Plagiarized?

HELP! I THINK I’VE BEEN PLAGIARIZED!

by Karen Wiesner

I was surfing the web one night, looking for nothing in particular, and suddenly stumbled on an article almost identical to one I wrote years ago! I’m furious, but I’m not sure how to approach this situation.

Has this ever happened to you?

We live in a day and age where writers don’t need education, qualifications or experience to slap something on the World Wide Web, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are a lot talented writers out there, and--let’s face it--you don’t have to have a college education to be eloquent or well-researched. However, the Web allows a new kind of piracy that doesn’t adhere to the old rules. It’s far too easy for writers to be inexperienced as well as sloppy with their work. Elise Dee Beraru, attorney and author, states, “There are some people out in cyberspace who don't realize that, just because an article is posted on the Web, it isn't in the public domain.” That needs to change, fast.

“One of the gray areas in copyright law involving the Web is the use of articles for which there is no charge,” says Beraru. “While your article is copyrighted (even if not registered), you have put it out on the Web for all to see and thus use. It is plagiarism to use someone's work as your own, but what are your damages? [If] you weren't charging or receiving royalties for the article, you theoretically haven't lost any money. [Additionally] If the copyright isn't registered, you may have lost the right to sue for certain damages provided in the Act.”

I faced a situation recently that really brought home the opening situation in a way that I’d only heard about second-hand before. I was surfing the ’Net, doing some promotion, and stumbled on an article that was almost identical to one I wrote years ago and is currently on the Web. In fact, the author of the piece even used this article of mine in her recommended reading list, yet didn’t ascribe anything in her article to me personally. Although the article was an updated version of the one I’d written on the same subject years ago, was in a different order and was written in the author’s own words, it included almost every major point that was in my article. It even included the personal story I’d included in my article. I’d read a lot of articles similar to mine over the years, but not one of them covered the same ground as mine did.

According to Beraru: “Plagiarism is the act of using someone's words as your own. It doesn't necessarily have to be word for word (Janet Dailey's plagiarism was not exactly word for word, but, according to reports, substantially word for word.) You can't copyright an idea (which is why there can be so many cowboy, baby and secret bride stories), but you can protect the words you use in the order you used them. However, if an article covers 98% of the material you covered, just in a different order or in only slightly changed wording, chances are some plagiarism is going on. Using your own personal stories without crediting them to you is a real kicker here and would be likely to convince a trier of fact that plagiarism has occurred.”

Again, there was no source list for this article, let alone something that said “Karen Wiesner stated…” anywhere in the article. I had a mix of emotions going through me: Anger because all my hard work was earning this author money and this author had people complimenting her article, yet I didn’t even get a sentence of credit for the hard work I’d inadvertently put into it. Disbelief because the omission of any source was so flagrantly unfair. Stunned amusement because there were portions of my article that were seriously outdated and the author hadn’t researched past what I wrote in order to make the necessary corrections. Wariness because what if I was wrong? You don’t just run around accusing people of pirating your work. Not if you want to avoid a lawsuit, that is.

I wrote to the author immediately, and I worded that first note very carefully. I pointed out the mistakes in her article first, then I brought up how closely related it was to my article, down to the personal story. I followed this with my credentials. Treading still more carefully, I asked the author to write to me so we could discuss this article and any connection it had with the one I’d written.

Well, the next morning, I had a letter from the author in my Inbox. I’d spent a sleepless night, bombarded with all those earlier emotions. The author seemed surprised that I’d taken any offense. She told me she’d spent eight months researching the topic and thought she’d write an article because it would be helpful to others. She also said that she included all the tips (almost all that were included in the article were also in mine) she’d found along the way. She personally saw only a couple areas that were similar to my article, but admitted she used the personal story because it was an “indicator” and included my article in the recommended reading list because it was easy to read and helpful.

My anger became worse reading all this, I’ll admit, because the author of the article was so breezy and casual, as if she didn’t realize that she’d taken my work without giving me permission. However, I was again very cautious because the casual, mostly friendly tone of the letter forced me to consider that this author could quite genuinely not realize she’d done anything wrong. I also gathered the author was very new at nonfiction writing and therefore had no idea that there were rules of ‘Net etiquette in this situation.

I wrote to the author again, and I’ll include portions of my letter here:

Dear [Author]:

I do not want to be a stubborn mule here, because helping authors is
something I've always done and will continue to do. However, you've readily
admitted here in your letter [and here I included word-for-word quotes from the author’s letter that in essence “incriminated” her] that you didn't take the proper, legal steps to use the material you put in your article. I know I never received a note requesting permission from me to use my information, which you included in your article. My e-mail address is at the end of my [title] article. It's there so those who want to use the information can get my permission. It's extremely unfair for you to use this information without giving credit where it's due. You also didn't complete the second, necessary step in writing an article, which is to include a list of your sources. Yes, you included a link to my article and said it was something worth reading, but you directly took information from my article, information that I gathered firsthand from numerous sources (and had permission to use!), which you didn't get permission for, let alone include me as the direct source of your information. I hope you can see why this is unfair, considering the amount of work I and others have put into our articles.

We have a couple options here. Your article is a good one that will help authors and, if we can avoid pulling it permanently, that would be great. Right now, you need to pull it temporarily. You need to obtain permission from me and anyone else you took direct information from, and you need to include source information. If you don't know where you got the information from, you need to take it out of your article altogether. You need to ask the people whom you gathered the information from how they would like their source information listed. For instance, my condition for allowing people to use [title] article is that they include information about my books.

If you're willing to take these necessary steps, your article can be put back up within a matter of weeks, depending on how long it takes you to obtain permission and incorporate it into the article. I'd also be willing to give you some extra, inside information (such as the information I sent in my initial letter to you.)

From my experience writing a monthly column for the Web, I know it's not easy to do all the legwork involved in writing an article (like obtaining permission and searching out firsthand information). It's easier to just write it and put it out there. But, if you're not careful, you could find yourself in hot water. You're a very talented writer and I'd hate to see that happen.

Please, let's work this out in a peaceful way. Contact me immediately, and let's work something out.

Karen Wiesner

It wasn’t more than an hour later that I had another letter from this author in my Inbox, and she immediately apologized, proving in every way that my initial feeling that she did this unintentionally was correct. (Which made me very glad I didn’t fly off the handle and start swearing a bluestreak!) This person was very warm and friendly, pulled the article, got my formal permission, asking me how I wanted my source line to read, and she got to work revising immediately. In my subsequent letter to the author, I could tell she was the type of common sense person I could become friends with. I’m glad I didn’t squash the possibility.

Is it wise to write letters to those we feel have plagiarized us, even diplomatic ones? Not necessarily, according to Beraru: “I don't believe in writing "cease and desist" letters unless you plan to back it up with a lawsuit if the other party doesn't cease using this article or adds a credit line.” I really didn’t think that far ahead when I wrote my “cease and desist” note, but my experience was very positive. It couldn’t have gone better. It could have gone worse, however. A lot worse.

Another thing that’s becoming common in this day and age is to do away with footnotes and source lists at the end of an article. I guess the way of thinking is that it makes you look like an amateur, that you can’t hold an argument on your own. What a silly way of looking at it! In reality, including source identification and information—especially on the WWW, where it’s so, so easy to grab something off a site and never look back!—is fair and common courtesy.

All article and nonfiction writers out there, if you’re writing an article or book that you intend to put on the WWW and you use information from other sources, credit those sources, even if you just include the name, where it was published and a web page URL if there is one. Unless you absolutely have looked everywhere and can’t come up with contact information and the quote is short, get express permission from the author of that material and give him the courtesy of asking how he wants his source information listed. Include what information you do have by way of contact information, like a book or article title or, if it’s a touchy area, drop the quote altogether.

How much is too much though? Can you use product or publisher website URLs and article recommendations without getting permission? Yes, because that's good promotion for them any way you look at it. They in no way lose from having you mention them because readers can go to the source and get their own information if they’re interested.

There's a little leeway for other things too, of course. For instance, I use a lot of statistics about e-publishing and the internet that I've gathered from various sources in my books and my column. If I'm using only one or two short quotes, then I don't need to get specific permission, but I do always include what/who I quoted and where I found the information in my quintessential source list. This provides my readers with a sense of trust in my reporting skills because I went to experts to find the information I'm giving them and also gives those I've quoted promotion.

If you've directly quoted (even indirectly) large portions from a website or article on a website in your article, then you need to get permission to use that information and you should include the website URL to it. You need to include a source list. Readers look for source information because 1) it tells them you're not relying on assumptions (which could be erroneous) in this matter, 2) it tells them you did your homework by going to experts in the field so you could impart this information to them, 3) it gives them somewhere to go and find out more if they're interested. Until you’ve built up trust, a reader won’t necessarily assume you did the legwork to get your facts. Once you’ve written quite a few articles, they’ll begin to assume that you did your homework even if you don’t include a source list. Not that you shouldn’t include it!

Always give a source credit where credit is due. When in doubt, get permission rather than risk the consequences if the author is unhappy about what you’ve done. The best way to tell whether or not you need to get express permission to use something in an article is to answer the common-sense question: Will this source lose face, promotion and/or potential sales if I don’t include their information?

Let’s get back to the days of quality reporting, shall we? The days that begin with The Golden Rule.

My Quintessential Source List (with much gratitude for going above and beyond the call of duty):

In addition to being a bestselling electronic author writing historical romance, Elise Dee Beraru is an attorney in solo practice in Beverly Hills, California specializing in workers' compensation. Her novel, REMEMBER MY LOVE, is available through Hard Shell Word Factory, www.hardshell.com, where a preview is available. Her new novel, THE HERO’S BEST FRIEND, is also available from Awe-Struck E-Books, www.awe-struck.net.

Recommended Resources:

Kirsch's Handbook of Publishing Law : For Author's, Publishers, Editors and Agents
by Jonathan Kirsch
Acrobat Books

The Copyright Permission and Libel Handbook : A Step-By-Step Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers (Wiley Books for Writers)
by Lloyd J. Jassin, Steve C. Schector
John Wiley & Sons

Every Writer's Guide to Copyright and Publishing Law
by Ellen M. Kozak
Owlet

101 Questions About Copyright Law
by Andrew Alpern
Dover Publications

Getting Permission : How to License & Clear Copyrighted Materials Online & Off
by Richard Stim


				*Plagiarized?*



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