February 16, 2009

Makes Me Cranky: On Plagiarism and Lacking Originality

Although most people who know me think I'm a nice person, many people would also tack on to that description that I can be cranky at times. Some of the things that make me cranky?

Disorganization

Late assignments

Constant mess (as in "Pick up your toys already!")

Piles of laundry thanks to multiple "wardrobe changes" within a day

Plagiarism

That last one is a big one. When I taught 9th grade many years ago, we did a month long poetry unit. I made it fun and accessible for the kids. The month long study of poetry culminated with a poetry portfolio that reflected a theme of their choosing. Students were to find poetry that fit the theme and also write their own.

I took home a stack of portfolios and was shocked to see that I had five different students who were guilty of plagiarism. Two were actually claiming to have written the exact same poem. They didn't know each other and were in separate classes. Another student wrote a poem so genius that I became suspicious. A simple google search told me what I needed to know. It was plagiarized, plain and simple. Students who were friends with these kids were including these poems in their portfolios and giving credit to their friends for writing them. It needed to be stopped. They needed to learn a lesson.

As my 6th period walked into class the day after I had collected the portfolios, they noticed two pieces of paper taped to the board. One was the original poem with the author's name, web address, etc. The other was the version turned into me by the student. I never saw someone's face turn that shade of red before. The day before, he had been a celebrity. Not so much anymore.

He made a public apology to the class, received an F on his portfolio and he also got sent to the principal for plagiarism. The other two students got the same treatment.

As a writer, plagiarism is something I just don't understand. I can understand carelessly forgetting a quotation mark or something. Stuff happens like that sometimes, not that it's ever happened to me though. I'm extremely careful like that. But flat out taking someone else's writing or ideas and saying its your own is just brazen and stupid.

The University where I teach has a strict policy on plagiarism and teachers have access to a wonderful website where you upload a paper and watch the results come in as to how much of it is plagiarized. I made my warning quite clear to my students and I haven't had a problem so far.

The internet is a different story.

I've heard stories about bloggers having their entire blog ripped off and republished somewhere else on the web under a different person's name. It's also not uncommon for people to take a blogger's RSS feed and republish it to their own site. To combat this, I set up google alerts. It's simple to do and every blogger who worries about having their content ripped off should take a few moments to set it up. Beyond the google alerts, and I swear even more effective than them, are you, my awesome readers.

I can count at least five different occasions where I've received an email from a reader, telling me that someone has stolen my photo, web design, or entire posts (There's currently some chick on the other side of the world ripping off my web design almost in its entirety. It's not a template honey. It's mine. Get your own!). I found out thanks to one of you.

As a writer, and as someone who spent months trying to figure out what to call my blog, I get really upset about this stuff. Beyond flat out stealing images and content, there's also SEO hijacking and that really irritates me too. I used to teach a blog writing course and I told my students that when creating their blog, they have to do the research. They have to put in the time to make sure they're choosing an original name that isn't stepping on anyone's toes.

Changing just one little part of a website title or design doesn't count as being original either. The way I see it, if you can't come up with something original on your own, then maybe writing online isn't for you. And, if you don't want to put in the time to make sure you're being original, then write in a private journal and save yourself the wrath of bloggers who work hard to create original content. Trust me when I say, we're willing to fight for it too.

Without filing a single piece of paper with the government, bloggers are protected by copyright and trademark laws. Don't believe me? Google it. And not doing the research is not an excuse. Even if you think you have an original name for a blog, it's irresponsible to not check out the competition and insure that you've come up with something that is uniquely yours.

Whenever another one of these things happens, I get very grumpy about it. I start thinking about removing my blog. I start thinking I should password protect it. After all, I started this site with the hopes that I could eventually use it to catapult myself into a book deal or at least a permanent writing gig somewhere. I've been writing a lot on the side lately and am getting more and more motivated to get that book rolling. Putting yourself out there though, means you're also putting out your content and your ideas and they're ripe for someone else to wrongfully claim.

The thing is though, I like blogging and putting my writing out there. I like the community and how I've found friends in the most unlikely of places through writing this blog. I don't want to shut it down or password protect it to protect my content. I shouldn't have to do that. Instead, people should just be smart and for a change, try being original.

I want to thank those of you who send me emails and act as the "Black Belt Mama" police. I know I've returned the favor for some of you out there over the past few years and I'll continue to do so.

They say that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" but there is nothing "sincere" about ripping off someone else's ideas, photos or writing.

Nothing.