Georgios,

I really cannot believe that you actually posted the following paragraph:-

The mystery forum is was not in the competion here. There I have lots of information that is not mine. Arthur you are Right! The Atlantis theory is not mine. The Philosophy coordiantes are not mine. The legends are not mine, THe Tales are not mine. They are Global heritage belonging to everyone and no one have the right to Copywrite Native Americans, Aristotle, The ancient Greeks, Indians, nor the mythology and legends and the tales which are subject that some people still live with them.

There is a huge difference between using reference works and web sites to create your own ideas and express them and taking what others have created, verbatim.

Many researchers allow their work to be used for other research and to be used by schools and other educational institutions and they trust, just like when they publish a book, that others will respect their ownership of that work.

Just becauses something is on a web site, and just because it is on a subject that you think might make a good forum, it does not entitle or licence you to steal that work (which is part of the owners intellectual capital) and present it as your own.

It is called plagiarism!

I don't know what the legalities are in the American system but there must be laws against 'knowingly or unwittingly' publishing copywrite material without the owners consent. 

I'd hate to see Adland destroyed by such stupidity.

The Old Coot

To everyone,

AdlandPro member or not, in the US they have strict laws about plagiarism and we have seen evidence of the laws being used against offending college and university students, politicians, news reporters, and even high school students.

Some students have lost any chance to finish a college education by being expelled from a campus for plagiarism. Some have also had to pay hefty fines up to $150,000.00 per occurence.

Do a Google search for DMCA Notice and you'll see what is known as Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This is to serve as a helpful way to clean up plagiarism on the internet. Many companies, such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Paypal, MySpace, and maby others use this almost on a daily basis since they see so many cases of plagiarism with their intellectual property.

Here's a link to show a filing to Google from a company known as Kazaa.

http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/notice.cgi?NoticeID=789

The site, Chilling Effects, is like a library of cases of plagiarism being tracted by every possible source. They have more things than this but this is one catagory.

Chilling Effects Clearinghouse > DMCA Safe Harbor Provisions > Notices

If it is evident that plagiarism has occurred then there should be swift action to get rid of it. Those guilty should hang their head in shame and  be gone.

It sets bad examples for others and some that see it think it's ok and they repeat what they see and they get burned they look at you, the example setter, as the culprit.

If you are guilty and get a notice act fast and remove it before you become a case in court and can lose everything you have.

Kenneth R Sword Jr

Hi Everyone,

Great attractive subject for a discussion. Reminds me a little of a 'Yarn Market' - they still have one in Dunster in Somerset UK - You know the sort of thing ~ Generally old men gathering together in a huddle sheltering from the weather and swopping tales of the unexpected gossip. "My story is better than yours" he said. "So there!"

I am truly delighted that this has not been banned because of the outright dissension  that it contains. Is the unknown censor committee AWOL?

Speaking for myself I find the getting involved with adland forums of late is something that does not appeal to the busy debater when so many members 'take the hump'and rush off to complain when others disagree with them.

Still available for a good debate. (besides my own forum. )

Have a Great Day!

Peter aka The Old Duck.

PS: May the best forum win.

PPS: Just a minor technical point. Why am I getting mailed about a members forum threads when he is no longer on my friends list?  A real P in the A that is. 

Hi Arthur and Kenneth,

This is quite awesome information.  There is so much to learn
about what we can and can't post on public forums.      Especially
when the case in most countries is that ignorance of the law is no
defence!

So does this mean that is ok to use a piece of another persons
work if you use it to illustrate a point and give the source?   But
that is is not ok to do it without the source or back link  - unless it
is expressly permitted or comes from something uncopyrightable
like the Bible?

When a site has a Copyright policy page - Does  that override
everything?  Even if you put the source.

For example, to use the point that Georgios raised earlier in his
link with reference to the Behind the Names site - if you copy
verbatim or nearly verbatim from another site without a source
credit, or in the case of that site's Copyright conditions a back
link, is that plagiarism? ( Irrespective of the quality of the
information copied.)

Having suffered from having some of my site used by others to benefit from our work - I would not wish to fall in the trap and do so to others!

Saludos
Jenny

Hi, Jenny,

This is one of those times when you cannot protect yourself too much. As Kenneth has said, the penalties can be ruinous!

The problem with the theft of intellectual property is that nobody but the owner thinks anything of it - and even they might do nothing, initially, because it is too much trouble. If the problem and thefts continue, the owner of the property will then be forced to act and even those that have been ignored in the past could find themselves in receipt of a writ.

It is very easy to ask for permission to use a quotation out of a book or off a web site. I have never been refused and, indeed, it enhances my reputation if I quote a source and give a back link to it.

The wholesale plundering of a site is a different matter all together and I can't see any author allowing that to go on for any longer than it takes him to get papers issued.

If you can find the web site you want to copy something out of, you must be equally able to find out who to ask for permission to do it.

It is called 'good manners'.

The Old Coot

p.s. Even if you credit the source and have a back link, if you do not have the author's permission, it is still plagiarism.