1. Advertising
    y u no do it?

    Advertising (learn more)

    Advertise virtually anything here, with CPM banner ads, CPM email ads and CPC contextual links. You can target relevant areas of the site and show ads based on geographical location of the user if you wish.

    Starts at just $1 per CPM or $0.10 per CPC.

Do You Think Rewriting Content Is Plagiarism?

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by amanstyle, Feb 5, 2013.

  1. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    2,787
    Likes Received:
    404
    Best Answers:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    190
    #21
    The main question in this thread is about "rewriting" - whenever that is done without permission, it is plagiarism and copyright infringement. Period, end of story

    No it does not. What you are describing is called syndication.
     
    YMC, Feb 7, 2013 IP
  2. oo87

    oo87 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    447
    Likes Received:
    36
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    115
    Articles:
    1
    #22
    Using information from different sources for unique content is fine. Rewriting someone's content directly, especially for profit, is not.
     
    oo87, Feb 8, 2013 IP
  3. PassGoSEO

    PassGoSEO Member

    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    24
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    35
    #23

    It depends how you 'use' it. If you simply cut and paste sections from a number of different articles, that's a 'mash up', and will get you a Googleban fast.
     
    PassGoSEO, Feb 8, 2013 IP
  4. oo87

    oo87 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    447
    Likes Received:
    36
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    115
    Articles:
    1
    #24
    But that isn't actually 'using' information from resources. That is just copy/pasting someone's work, meaning it negates the entire concept of being unique. Obviously, I don't mean stealing bits of content from tons of places. :p
     
    oo87, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  5. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    2,787
    Likes Received:
    404
    Best Answers:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    190
    #25
    Unique is a totally different issue. A piece can be 100% unique and still plagiarized and infringe on someone's copyright.
     
    YMC, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  6. Winagain

    Winagain Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    919
    Likes Received:
    33
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    120
    #26
    Yes, I think it is. It's different if you read an article and then write it adding your own points and experience.
    But if you are only changing words but expressing the same idea, it is plagiarism.
     
    Winagain, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  7. oo87

    oo87 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    447
    Likes Received:
    36
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    115
    Articles:
    1
    #27
    Then let's be more specific. Using public resources of open information, or else referencing information from private sources with proper attribution based on their own copyright specifications (creative commons, attribution authorization, share-alike, ect) is fine when written into an entirely unique article that is only properly referencing those sources.

    I am not a fan of rewriting, period. Unless the work in question is the client's, and they want their own work recrafted into something new, which I am fine with doing. Anything else is either copyright infringement, or it comes too close to the line for me to be comfortable with.

    Keep in mind I am a freelance article writer/blogger/content creator, not a copywriter. Which does alter things just slightly when it comes to sources used.
     
    oo87, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  8. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    2,787
    Likes Received:
    404
    Best Answers:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    190
    #28
    I've gotten to the point where I don't take rewriting jobs. I made one exception when the client could prove the originating source of the material. I don't care how much the client swears it is their material. I have no way of knowing if they stole it from another source or even stole it from a writer they didn't pay.

    Your point about proper attribution is spot on. Problem is that the fellow who started this thread and many others who have replied are not interested in actually writing. They just want a quick and dirty way to make money without doing any work to earn it.
     
    YMC, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  9. oo87

    oo87 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    447
    Likes Received:
    36
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    115
    Articles:
    1
    #29
    Thankfully, my client roster at this point are long term ones who are well known enough in their industries that I can trust the originality of their content. Most of it, when rewritten comes directly from their own sites. But it isn't so much 'rewriting' as reusing some of the sources, quotes or points, and presenting it in a wholly new article.

    I agree with you about many people who are looking to learn about rewriting. It is quick money, dubious (at best) in legality, and not a good way to go about things.
     
    oo87, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  10. PassGoSEO

    PassGoSEO Member

    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    24
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    35
    #30

    Why 'obviously'? The OP and quite a lot of other people seem to think stealing content is acceptable.

    And perhaps you'd like to explain why cutting and pasting isn't 'using' - it seems that to take a chunk of someone else's work, and republish it is to 'use' it.

    See YMC's response about uniqueness.
     
    PassGoSEO, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  11. oo87

    oo87 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    447
    Likes Received:
    36
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    115
    Articles:
    1
    #31
    See, now I think you are being overly defensive and letting it affect the way you read my responses. Since I have already covered everything you just brought up in previous responses, I am not going to answer that here. But I would advise that before you go on the attack, you make sure there is something actually worth attacking.
     
    oo87, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  12. PassGoSEO

    PassGoSEO Member

    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    24
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    35
    #32

    There's nothing worth attacking, you're quite right. There's certainly no point in arguing the definition of the word 'use'.

    And BTW, I'm not being defensive, I'm replying to your post. That's what happens on a forum.
     
    PassGoSEO, Feb 9, 2013 IP
  13. Emma Pollard

    Emma Pollard Active Member

    Messages:
    220
    Likes Received:
    38
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    63
    #33
    If I spend my time writing an article for a client which is supposed to be original (and is) and you then copy it, or part of it, I am not going to be happy, neither would my client. If you spent time writing an original article and I coppied it I would expect you to be unhappy. Whether you call it Plagiarism or Intellectual theft it is not only illegal but also MORALLY WRONG.
    Just my opinion x
    (I used the term unhappy as a deliberate understatement as I didnt want to be offensive)
     
    Emma Pollard, Feb 19, 2013 IP
  14. barutiwa

    barutiwa Greenhorn

    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    #34
    Interesting discussion. Can anyone here explain what is going on in a newsroom where a reporter in the field is calling in to his editor filing notes and then someone in the newsroom creates a story out of the notes. Furthermore, I've seen many newspapers republish similar stories from competing newspapers in different words, style and expression with very little to no differences in the facts reported. So what do you call that?
     
    barutiwa, Sep 5, 2013 IP
  15. TextServices

    TextServices Active Member

    Messages:
    276
    Likes Received:
    140
    Best Answers:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    70
    #35
    The key words are different words, style and expression... It's called reporting the news. There is no harm in reporting actual facts. Often times it will be printed, "According to police" or "According to the CEO of XYZ company" or "Financial analysts estimate $1.5 billion in lost tax revenue..."
     
    TextServices, Sep 5, 2013 IP
  16. PassGoSEO

    PassGoSEO Member

    Messages:
    260
    Likes Received:
    24
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    35
    #36
    The reporter's 'notes' aren't content. They aren't published.

    Writing your 'take' on the 'facts' is very different from automatically using a spinner to try and hide the fact that you have stolen someone else's work.

    C'mon, laser brain. It's not exactly rocket science. If you really want to plagiarise other people's work, go right ahead and see what happens. We don't make the law, but it exists nonetheless.
     
    PassGoSEO, Sep 5, 2013 IP
  17. oo87

    oo87 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    447
    Likes Received:
    36
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    115
    Articles:
    1
    #37
    I would like to point out what others have, that rewriting from the news wire is not the same as stealing someone else's content and rewriting it for yourself.

    Also, even that practice has serious problems attached for journalists. News media has become more of a fiasco than it ever has been before. News is regularly repeated from the wire or other websites without fact checking, leading to misunderstandings. Just look at what happened with the Boston Bombings...Reddit users "investigated" the suspect and came up with the wrong name, posting it all over the website. The news media picked up on this and actually began reporting the man as a suspect!

    Needless to say, the man was not the bomber and had nothing to do with any terrorist activities. Instead, their witch hunt had led to a young man who had been missing for quite some time, and it turned out had committed suicide. The internet swarmed to the Facebook page the family had set up to find him, taunting the family and calling him a terrorist. It was disgraceful, and it was "news".

    Rewriting in any context that comes through a chain of people carries a risk.
     
    oo87, Sep 6, 2013 IP
  18. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    2,787
    Likes Received:
    404
    Best Answers:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    190
    #38
    The reporter and editor are working together to create a piece. Neither is committing plagiarism or illegally creating a derivative work by rewriting a published article.

    As employees, the product of their efforts belongs to whomever they work for.

    The republishing, in this context, is called syndication. Look up Associated Press if you want to learn more about how it works.

    What do I call your question? Sounds like someone trying to defend stealing the work of others.
     
    YMC, Sep 6, 2013 IP
  19. Emma Pollard

    Emma Pollard Active Member

    Messages:
    220
    Likes Received:
    38
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    63
    #39
    The whole point of 'news' is that it gives different opinions of what is happening in the world. If only one network/newspaper reported each story there would be complaints of a biased view. I often write about things which are happening in the world and I give an opinion which is often left out of main stream media (mainly because I don't agree with the media), I check facts when relevant and anything quoted is cited, I have enough knowledge about what I am writing to not have to reference things very often.
     
    Emma Pollard, Sep 6, 2013 IP
  20. barutiwa

    barutiwa Greenhorn

    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    #40
    I am trying to get an understanding between the news sites that focus on rewriting content or stories from other sources as compared to the general understanding of plagiarism. For instance, at Digital Point there are alot of participants who don't produce original content. They use software to spin articles that sound like a broken form of unintelligent English. It seem most these types are from countries that don't respect copyrights. Anyway, I think those who responded to my post finally made it clear that rewriting content in your own words and manner of expression is not plagiarism!
     
    barutiwa, Sep 6, 2013 IP