(no subject)

[schmevil]

I have been plagiarised three times in Harry Potter fandom. On two of those occasions I took it up with the offendors in email. On the third, having no solid proof (my fic was offline when the derivative story was posted), I left it alone. Plagiarism happens.

In fandom we don't have a recognized way to seek recourse for this kind of theft, so many people resort to bombastic lj posts, mass emails and snitty, veiled message board posts. I can understand why this is so common - after all, it's natural to want to bring attention to the problem, and even to want the offender tossed out of fandom and into a dung heap - but I really don't think that it accomplishes anything. When I've dealt with plagiarism one on one, I've always had a satisfactory response. Even if the idiot denies it, you've more control over the situation and if you have evidence, you're dealing from a position of power.

Plagiarists are scared of being caught out, so catch them and be rational about it. If you freak out, drag your friends into it and make wild, enraged accusations, you give up your power. Crazy flame war girl? So much less scary and authoritative than the calm bitch who presents you with clear evidence and demands you take down your fic. Flame wars encourage people to take sides, sure, but you can never be sure people with side with you.

Just saying.

Comments

[ingrid-m.livejournal.com]

It's also a good idea to take it to private email first because ofttimes people's definition of plagiarism isn't all it should be.

I remember the first time I accused someone of it and I was wrong, wrong, wrong. (Two fics with a similar plot does not a textual thief make.) After she wrote back, upset, but firm in her denial with examples of real plagiarism to back it up I was embarrassed (once I cooled off) but at least not publicaly humiliated.

In the olden days, list admins used to *insist* that any theft issue would be discussed privately first before any public declarations could be made, and then, only made public if the a. offense was a real one upon examination by a disinterested party and b. if the offending author refused to admit it/apologize/remove name from fic.

So yeah, sometimes we were smarter back then.

[theatresm.livejournal.com]

This is one reason I stay in my little corner and don't participate in message boards, etc. (The crazy enraged flame-girl factor, that is.) I've had one suspected case of plagiarism -- not an entire fic, but a plot device which was described in verrrrrry specific and familiar words. I was mightily tempted, but the rip-off sucked and I knew there was no way anyone would confuse the two.

In re: general fandom idiocy: I'm having a hard time understanding why we act like such idiots over fandom when we just lost 40+ more people in Iraq.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I agree completely that email is the way to go.

I think the problem is that actions and reactions happen on a sliding scale. There's everything from outright copying to inadvertant echoing to similar plot and nothing else, and everything in between. Then there are the people who hide in a corner when someone else blatantly rips off their works, and the people who bang drums and scream when someone else independently thinks, "hey, I'll write Harry/Draco present tense angst!" -- and everything in between.

With our limited universe of characters and situations, there are going to be lots of similar ideas popping up. And it's really hard to tell if your idea of a moving snake tattoo was something you came up with independently, or that you saw in one of the two thousand fics you read over the past two years.

I suppose the moral is, "Can't we all get along -- and if not, can you work it out together before turning it into a great big flamewar?"

Um.

[tartanshell.livejournal.com]

In my case, I have evidence. And the person who may or may not have plagiarised my fic (depending on one's definition) but definitely derived material from it didn't just do it to me.

If it had just been me, if situations and lines of dialogue weren't nearly identical in this case, and if I didn't know this person, I would've let it slide. You know me, MHC. If I'm pissed at someone, I usually keep my mouth shut. This time, with this much..."influenced"...material, I decided not to.

I'm allowed to lose my temper once in awhile, aren't I? If I had thought this would start a flamewar (which it hasn't), I wouldn't have done it. But I'm not important enough in the fandom or a good enough writer for it to matter, nor is she.

I don't care about power. I don't care about sides or if anyone else even agrees with me. I'm a pissed off no-name fanficcer, and I posted in my personal LJ about it and reviewed the fic in question. I was even somewhat polite, for heaven's sake.

But I think I'm right, and I don't plan on backing down.

Re: Um.

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

Long time no chat. *pets*

My instinct of course, is to side with you on this, because, yes, I do know you well enough to know that you're not hysterical and histrionic. I'm not saying that you're wrong and certainly not that you should back down. Now that you've posted, there's nothing you legitimately can do but stick to your guns. I do hope that the situation is resolved to your satisfaction, and if you're on AIM later, you can whinge on my shoulder. (Miss you!) I would never advocate keeping silent about plagiarism, I just find that it's easier to deal with if you make it public after the fact.

This was a general post, responding to several incidents, in several different fandoms that have exploded recently. Yours was one of the posts I was thinking about, when I wrote the above, but it's not specifically what I had in mind.

Of course you're allowed to lose your temper. Since I lose mine several times a day, I'm hardly in any kind of position to talk. ;-)

[nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com]

Huzzah!

I think my problems with furore over fannish theft are largely the huge mess of flame that almost always ensues.

Make it calm and private. It's always worth a try...