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Plagiarism and Copyright Violation Question

by Marine0302
6 replies
I believe that I understand the concepts of plagiarism and copyright violation when using someone else's material. I am an honest person and will never knowingly do something illegal or unethical.

That said, it is my belief from reading articles, books and various online forum posts that it is considered appropriate to create an ebook, etc., using other ebooks, etc., as sources of information, scope of work, etc., in addition to other research I would be conducting.

In other words, if I want to create an ebook on senior citizen weight loss techniques, it is a common practice for me to review similar products as I am creating mine. Obviously, there's only so much science and knowledge associated with this topic (and all others) and while my ebook would undoubtedly contain some of the same "fundamentals" and baseline knowledge as my competitors, it is literally how I write it that differentiates my work from theirs. Again, I in no way want to even approach the line of legality, much less step over it.

I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts and advice on this topic.

Thanks!
#copyright #plagiarism #question #violation
  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    There are different components of plagiarism--ethical, legal, even cultural.
    The temptation top plagiarize comes from not trusting your own writing
    ability so you copy the words of others.
    (See Avoiding Plagiarism - The OWL at Purdue)

    It is generally said that IDEAS cannot be copyrighted but words can. But
    this isn't always true. There are ideas that are common place and others
    that are definitely associates with a certain individual.

    You have the option of giving credit to your sources, but if this is your
    competitor then you may get into some trouble there. What about
    finding the "primary sources"--where did those other writers get their
    information from? Can you read the same "primary sources" and come
    up with the a different angle?

    Following the same OUTLINE of another book can be plagiarism. Reading
    other books in the field is a part of "reviewing the literature" stage, but
    simply borrowing their information without giving credit is a no-no.

    I quotes a website URL (so I gave credit) in an ebook and the writer
    contacted me threatening legal action if I didn't remove it. This was
    funny because I was sending traffic to his website. Anyway he was
    claiming that TWO WORDS--that's correct--2 words I used was his!!

    I don't think that book Titles can be copyrighted--but the usual
    disclaimer--I didn't finish Law School because I never started so
    check an attorney for legal advice.

    -Ray L.,
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  • Profile picture of the author gates17
    Question- If your use several lines or a quoted paragraph - (giving credit at the end of the eBook) that is not plagiarism, correct?
    I have found a short published book, I am wanting to "Copy word for word" and offer a an incentive for a niche. Is that the ethical and legal? Of course full copyrights will be given.
    Scot Gates
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    • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
      Originally Posted by gates17 View Post

      Question- If your use several lines or a quoted paragraph - (giving credit at the end of the eBook) that is not plagiarism, correct?
      I have found a short published book, I am wanting to "Copy word for word" and offer a an incentive for a niche. Is that the ethical and legal? Of course full copyrights will be given.
      Scot Gates
      Scot,

      There is something in the copyright law called the "Fair Use" doctrine. It allows writers to reproduce a portion of a copyrighted work under certain conditions.

      If you're looking for an exact definition of "Fair Use", there is none. Consider this quote from the U.S. Government Copyright Office website ...

      "The distinction between "fair use" and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined."

      You can find a discussion of "fair use" here ...

      U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use

      I'm not a lawyer, so don't take anything I've written as legal advice.

      Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author write-stuff
    Keep in mind that plagiarism is not a legal term, but copyright violation is. You can plagiarise a public domain work and not break any laws. And you are correct, book titles are not copyrighted (although they possibly could be trademarked if the author wished to go through all of that).
    - Russ
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  • Profile picture of the author KathyK
    gates17,

    No. It is not legal. It doesn't matter if you give the original author(s) credit - you may not use someone else's work without their explicit permisson.
    Signature

    Cheers,
    Kathy

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    • Profile picture of the author Marine0302
      Thanks everyone - you've answered my questions!
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