Questions about plagiarism and copyright

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by blubttrfl, Jul 2, 2007.

  1. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    There are plenty of books with titles that have been used in other works. I wouldn't worry about it, unless it is some extremely well-known title like Harry Potter and the Whatever, in which case you may run into trouble.
     
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  2. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    Yes, I agree with Steerpike. Stay away from the titles from famous works if possible. While not wrong, it's seen as disrespectful in many cases. Using "Desolate" should be fine, however. You may end up changing the title later anyway.
     
  3. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    And, with famous titles, it could actually turn out to be a legal problem if you run afoul of trademark issues (which is exactly what would happen in the Harry Potter case).

    There's something to be said for a distinctive, unusual title that will grab the reader's attention, so that may be another reason not to go with one that has been used before.
     
  4. Stephanie Norman

    Stephanie Norman New Member

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    I agree that you can put title that was used before if it is not too famous. As for me, the main point to consider while coming up with a title is creativeness and something that will be easy to remember for your readers. Do not forget to think like your reader, not like a writer! Good luck!
     
  5. Jaro

    Jaro Active Member

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    Also you might make sure your finished story doesn't resemble that other book as well. I can imagine that might stir up some issues as well.
     
  6. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Thanks everybody!

    Desolate seems to really fit the theme of my story, so I latched into it as soon as it came to mind. I want to do a sort of "D" theme, where each book on the series would start with D. I had more names in mind last night, but now I can't remember any of them... :\

    Anyway. The other Desolate was published over a year ago, doesn't seem to be very popular, is nothing like my story, and is targeting a different age group than me. So I think I'd be okay to go ahead with the title.

    I may add more to it than just Desolate (and I'll be sure to avoid Desolation), but one word titles seem to be popular right now, so maybe I won't!

    Thanks again!
     
  7. Sifunkle

    Sifunkle Dis Member

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    As long as they weren't Darkly Dreaming/Dearly Devoted/etc Dexter, for the aforementioned copyright issues ;) But I quite like when a series (or even an author's disparate works [ooh, there's a nice D-word!]) has a naming theme, as long as the titles work in their own right.

    Jokes/references/opinions aside, my point is about 'searchability'. It's harder to google a one-word title, especially when other works use it. If someone wants to find your book they still will, but if a potential reader had lots of options or was only mildly interested, they might give up. This hinders marketing, although it's probably only a minor handicap, hardly a dealbreaker.

    I knew of a band that went by 'is'. They changed names pretty quickly (even prior to Islamic State being a thing) :D
     
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  8. AASmith

    AASmith Senior Member

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    Many books have the same name. I think as long as you are not picking a hugely popular book and using that name then you should be fine. Also I would not worry about it too much as the name of the book may change many times between now and completion and should you get a publisher your name might change after that too. who knows.
     
  9. C. W. Evon

    C. W. Evon Member

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    Just a thought--and this may be just me, since as you said one word titles are popular--I have a really, really, really difficult time remembering one word titles. They aren't distinctive enough. Personally I like slightly longer ones with a bit of poetry to them, because those stick in your mind. But again, I may be in the minority here since the one word titles are so popular.
     
  10. daemon

    daemon Contributor Contributor

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    This is what I came here to say. A title is an identifier; its purpose is to identify. It does not serve its purpose if it identifies two different things.

    The perfect title is one that is not currently in Google's index. When you search it, you get no results.

    Granted, tons of titles do not adhere to this principle; it is simply the deciding factor in how I would choose a title.
     
  11. kuanyin

    kuanyin New Member

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    I need some help and guidance on what is a kind of sticky problem. Well, maybe not so much a problem but a talking point. I have just finished 'writing' a book which, if published, would amount to about 250 pages. It is a specialised book on a number of famous people in their fields. Now, I utilised many Wikipedia website texts for the manuscript. The very nature of the book leant itself to acquiring data and other facts surrounding these people from Wikipedia. So, in a way, it was more of an editing job although I contributed much original text. The big question regards copyright of Wikipedia materials.

    Now, my question is this, am I legally entitled to use Wikipedia in my book considering, as far as I am led to believe, all Wikipedia material is free to use and free of copyright? I have asked others in the publications industries and the answers I received are just not totally definitive. I am aware of citing Wikipedia contributors from the copyright angle but this is a 250 page book!!

    Any thoughts?
     
  12. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    I believe most Wikipedia text is under a Creative Commons license (not free of copyright; most text created has a copyright that attaches by law), which means you can use it but only if you release your own work under as permissive a license, which I doubt you want to do. They've also used different licenses over the years, so depending on when text was posted there could be different rules. You'll have to research it.

    Pictures, excerpts, and the like are probably based on Fair Use on Wikipedia itself but have copyrights owned by others, so you can't just assume those are fair game.

    Facts/data aren't protected in and of themselves, so that's OK.

    Wikipedia also isn't always right, so I wouldn't use it as a source without looking further into the subjects.
     
  13. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    By the way, you should go to the Wikipedia site and look at their license(s) for the material you used. You can then see what the terms of each license are. Also, some use you make might be considered Fair Use in and of itself, but that is a fact-dependent analysis that turns on a number of factors, and really only comes up if the Wikimedia Foundation decided to go after you. But the material certainly isn't free of copyright. If someone started selling an unlicensed bound volume of Wikipedia (which is a dumb idea, but I'm using it for purposes of illustration), the Wikimedia Foundation would almost certainly come after them and win.
     
  14. rainy_summerday

    rainy_summerday Active Member

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    It sounds like you have a non-fiction book on your hands. Then you have to add a "works cited" section in which you will have to quote all your sources. It can be a pain, but it's not just about giving credit to the original author. It also protects you from nasty issues. Imagine this scenario: Your sources included wrong details, and you publish them. Then you could be held liable for deliberately dragging the famous person's reputation through the mud, even if it was an honest mistake. If you explicitly reference the source of your information, you have a barrier of protection in such cases.
     
  15. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    @rainy_summerday I'm not sure how much of a barrier that is. Republication of defamatory material can give rise to liability, and there have been cases where courts have found liability even when the writer cites the original source of the material. If you're working with potentially defamatory material, I think you're well-advised to do independent research to determine whether it is true, and especially not to rely on a site like Wikipedia.

    On the other hand, simply linking to such material has generally been found not to be a republication and not to result in liability.
     
  16. rainy_summerday

    rainy_summerday Active Member

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    Well, I am not claiming you will not get into trouble. But it will help your case, like you stated, Steerpike. It's one of the reasons why it is preferable to reference too many sources rather than too little. Even though it can be very annoying to read texts overloaded with citations. But it is fundamentally asinine to get thrown out of university, lose one's job/degree, or be sued over being too lazy to cite properly. It does not really matter which method of citation one uses, or whether a dot or comma notation is more appropriate. Just have a complete list of your sources. In my opinion, that is the best prevention of trouble. But it's not fail-safe, that is true.
     
  17. tanger32au

    tanger32au New Member

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    This is a very interesting question. In my WIP I have used some information as the basis for my story, I need to check this for truthfulness before I go too far with it.
     
  18. kuanyin

    kuanyin New Member

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    Thanks for your thoughts - very interesting. To cite all Wikipedia references would be a pain; I mean we are talking exactly 100 biographies and I would reckon the number of Wikipedia websites I visited would amount to around 150. I did check all material for accuracy so that part of the work is done. So I guess to be totally legal I would visit all the websites and list the references. Okay. Now, do you think it would be au fait to just create a kind of index at the back of the book and list all the citations? This would be quicker. Again, I do value your thoughts.
     
  19. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    Hey, sorry about bumping a three month old thread, but I felt like this was more fitting than just making another thread.

    I'm really concerned I'm ripping off of Daredevil, why? Because my main character in my fantasy is blind and she has a mentor, a middle-aged man who is also blind. Sounds familiar? Sounds a lot like Murdoch and Stick. Of course, the storyline, context, tone, background, etc are vastly different than the ones from Daredevil. The only similarity between my story and Daredevil is that both have a blind assassin/fighter who is mentored/was mentored by a blind assassin/fighter.

    The fantasy itself is coming along great, I'm just concerned about this one particular aspect. I can remove it with ease (or simply make the mentor not blind/not a fighter/assassin), but it's kind of worrying. Would this be considered borderline plagiarism or heavily inspired? Or are blind mentors typical in fiction and I'm just worrying too much once again?
     
  20. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    So let me get this straight.. Your fighter was trained!

    I wouldn't worry nothing about that sounds even close. I mean what strong ffighter isn't trained?
    Also blind is not something marvel owns. Just like if I make a boy wizard I am not going to be getting sued.

    Make him a lawyer in an urban environment.... then you might be worried but blind and fighter sounds like all you got that it is common and Daredevil is not the only oone to do that. I doubt highly it was the first.
     
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  21. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    True, I just wanted to make sure I'm not stepping on any toes in case Marvel was the first to create the ‘blind mentor trains the blind pupil’ thing. :D One time I made a character I thought was pretty cool and unique...only to realize I was basically re-creating Gohan if he were a ninja instead of a Saiyan. xD
     
  22. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    LOL

    Well the issue there is we all get moments like that. Where we are looking too closely at similarities instead of differences.

    I mean take any two movies off your shelf and it likely that a character from each share something. Maybe it is the fact both boys. Maybe there are a lot of similarities but the point is what makes both nice and both were watching is not how they are the same but how they are different.

    You puting him in a fantasy is already a huge difference right off the bat. Right?
     
  23. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    Well yeah, he's got a different backstory than Stick. He's pleasant (not a complete ass and he actually sees my MC as the daughter he never had) and he's not the only blind fighter in my universe. He and others like him can 'see' with magic. Still working out precisely how, but it's common knowledge.

    Really, the only common thing he's got with Stick are that he's born blind, he mentored a blind kid, and he's a fighter. Y'know what, what I was I worried about? :p
     
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  24. GuardianWynn

    GuardianWynn Contributor Contributor

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    Wait! I just realized! I have a blind fighter too! Did I rip you off? lol

    Just joking. Actually it can be really easy to get worried. Which is why I was trying to say not to. ;)

    Someone once mentioned to me. That Dr. Doom. Lex Luthor and Magneto technically all have the same core characteristics. They are all people who wish to create a better world and believe the acts they are doing will make the world better. Anyone can look very similar if you only look at there similiarities. I mean look at us. Why are both writers? :D

    Now I suddenly want to send you a note to compare our blind warriors! :D lol
     
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  25. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    You can if you want. :p :D

    True, I suppose what matters is how you make sure your character doesn't fit another character to a T. Anyone can do a blind warrior/mentor figure. Stick wasn't the first, and he clearly isn't going to be the last. So long as our blind badass mentor figures are unique in his/her own way, we should all be safe. :D
     
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