RE: Plagiarism - What's Common Knowledge?, Public Domain Graphics, Portfolio Question. Handlebar Laptop

["Mark Baker" <mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com>]

> But these critters (scanners) have been around a while - When I describe a
> particular type or function - just summarizing in my own words several
> articles I've read - it reads remarkably like the originals because, heck,
> there just aren't that many ways you can describe one.  One article I read
> was clearly, word for word, section by section, lifted off of another BIG
> NAME website, with a couple of odd words changed around.  No brainer -
> that's plagiarism.

No brainer -- that's a copyright violation. Plagiarism is an academic sin.
Copyright violation is illegal.

Plagiarism consists of passing off someone else's **ideas** as your own.
Academics frown on this because they are supposed to have their own ideas.
You can completely rewrite the ideas, mix in ideas from several different
sources, and it is still plagiarism. To absolve yourself of plagiarism you
must cite your sources. Plagiarism is forbidden by the by-laws of
universities, not by the law of the land.

Copyright violation is passing of somebody else's **words** as your own. It
is against the law. It is still against the law even if you cite your
sources. If you publish a book that that consists of the words "John Grisham
wrote a great book to goes like this: " and then includes the complete text
of The Testament, you are violating copyright, but you are not committing
plagiarism because you have identified your source.

Plagiarism happens all the time in commercial writing and there is nothing
in the least illegal about it as long as it does not stray into copyright
violation. Very few popular publications of any kind include the citation of
sources that academics require to avoid the accusation of plagiarism. Ideas
are public domain. The specific expression of an idea is protected
(copyright). Specific processes can be protected (patent). But ideas are
free.

The truth is that most of the work you do as a writer in the commercial
world will be plagiarism in the strict academic sense -- you will be
describing ideas that are not your own and you won't be citing your sources.
The only distinction is that you won't usually be claiming credit for the
ideas yourself since your work won't usually be credited to you.

If you want to demonstrate you capability as a writer for commercial
purposes, therefore, you should not be in the least concerned about
plagiarism. You should, on the other hand, be very concerned about
copyright.
---
Mark Baker
Senior Technical Writer
Stilo Corporation
1900 City Park Drive, Suite 504 , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J 1A3
Phone: 613-745-4242, Fax: 613-745-5560
Email mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com
Web: http://www.stilo.com

This message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the
intended recipient and may contain confidential and privileged
information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, copying, or
distribution is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient please contact the sender by reply email and destroy
all copies of the original message and any attachments.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Order RoboHelp X3 and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, plus FREE 
RoboScreenCapture, WebHelp Merge Module and iMarkupSoftware, for a total 
giveaway value of $473! Order here: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

   Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.