I'm not really a hacker (networking isn't something I've studied in depth. I'm a programming man). But depending on the programming system the site uses (Most servers run off Unix but I've never bothered looking what this site is running on), its as simple as tracing the server IP (which is really easy if you know the URL) and then going through the data. I could learn how to do it probably in a weekend but that's no promise I could actually pull it off. Lots of sites (and I'm sure this one is one of them) have systems to protect them from data-manipulation. Being someone who has never really been interested in the fine aspects of networks and data basing, I'd probably never be able to do it, but I know a few guys at my school who probably could (its not usually a subject we discuss ). Don't let me scare you though. No hacker is going to waste time on a writing forum. Hackers are more interested in getting money or information that can be sold than in a nice short story written by our resident members.
Well, it isn't impossible right now. The forums is using vBulletin 3.7.0 (you can see this at the end of the page). Right now the version is 3.7.3. Looking around in google you could probably find an exploit that targets version 3.7.0 that might have been patched up in later releases. This almost certain as much of the minor releases of most major software (minor being 3.7.*, as of right now) are done because of security holes. The major versions (3.* or * [to express more than 3]) are usually done to improve and add features. Certainly no one would want to hack this forums, but it is not impossible(as compared to non-comercial in-company private tools, which IS particularly hard). I think that's what lordofhats meant.
I remain by my first stand. It seems a bit beyond belief. With that said, lets get back on topic. I believe the question asked has been answered. Also please note, Mailing something to yourself via snail mail is NOT copyrighting the work correctly, nor is it dating it officially.(Taken Directly from the Official FAQ) Please read the FAQ in the Copyright Link provided. Europe, and most other countries carry the same rules and laws in regards to copyright. This is a very good article as well regarding somethings to consider when considering copyright and the sale of your work to another. I hope this helps answers your questions and considerations.
Another thing. Always think this (this is what got me to posting) Your work is never Good/supergood enough that someone what's to take it. If you're that concerned, post half of your things, or leave out some sentences or something. I doubt anyone on this website would do any plagarism anyway.
there's always someone who'd do anything anywhere!... why this site should be an exception escapes me, since anyone can join it... but as far as posting only parts of your work, that's a vital necessity, anyway, since if you post the whole thing, you'll use up the 'first rights' on your work and that's all most magazines will buy...
We have had a plagiarist or two try to steal material from members. One was even so brazen as to accuse the other member of being the plagiarist. The Internet is wide open, and anyone can get an account on the site without any proof of identity. Most of our members are outstanding, but there can always be a bad apple or two in the barrel.
I've heard, but have no idea about the legality of this, that if you want to protect yourself from plagarism then a cheap method is to place your story/peom/whatever in an envelope and post it to yourself. The envelope will be sealed and have a date stamp on it which should stand up in court as to when the piece was written.
I've done this myself, but Maia says it has absolutely no legal standing. The US Copyright office says that a filed copyright registration is neeed to litigate a case of copyright infringement, but if two people have attempted to tregister the same work, I would thank that any evidence that disputes the other party;s claim woulkd have to be weighed. When I have done this, I always used Registered Mail so the USPS has a record of the number on the sealed envelope. But it still may be possible to falsify such evidence, so it may come down to convincing a jury (a jury trial is always your right, although the judge still ghets to rule on what is admissible). Bottom line, it's no guarantee. If you really want to be safe, keep original copies, let trusted people know of their existence, and spend the money to register your copyright. But it's probably not worthwhile for anything smaller than a novel or novella, and the publisher or agent will probably take care of that anyway.
'the poor man's copyright' is nothing but an old wive's tale and has absolutely no standing in us courts [tho' does seem to have some in the uk]... and it's addressed right on the us copyright site: it will prove nothing, so don't waste money on the paper and postage... not even registered mail will prove anything... the best way to protect your work is to save your earliest notes on whatever you've written 'em, plus a couple of early drafts, to show how you developed the work from a simple idea... a sane plagiarist won't bother going to all that forgery trouble... and a nut won't be able to pull it off...
I'm new to the forum, new to writing for that matter and I was wondering is information one finds on the internet is considered public domain and can be used without worry. For example I was researching law firms on the web and found a paragraph on a firm's site that would fit perfectly in my fictional novel to describe unscrupulous practices. I would like to use the paragraph verbatim; is that permitted? Thanks, Denny
agreed... it is absolutely NOT permitted!... in fact, if you look hard enough, you'll probably find on most sites, some notice to the effect that all on the site is copyright protected... go here for the rules 'n regs: www.copyright.gov
This refers more to ideas rather than whole works but I'm still unsure about it. Point in question is that I'm planning out a science fiction novel and need to have a way for different civilizations to understand each other. I remember on the tv show Farscape an ingenious way around the problem. They had something called "translator microbes" that were injected into the recipient and the microbes attached themselves to the recipient's spinal cord and allowed him/her to understand other dialects. I find this idea quite clever, not to mention quite plausible when talking about advanced civilizations. Would using this idea be considered plagiarism? Obviously I wouldn't call them translator microbes but rather use my own name. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Thanks...
General ideas have no copyright on them. You're probably better off calling it something like a universal translator, and making it an electronic device because that's been used in more than one show/book. Besides, what else are you going to call it?
Well I haven't quite progressed that far. I thought I'd figure out if I could do it before investing effort in how it was going to work. I don't really want electronic devices for this though. I'm more thinking along the lines of a genetically engineered bacteria that would do the same job.
The general idea, whether electronic or biologic, is out there in numerous forms. Rei is correct though, general ideas aren't copyrighted -- just particular arrangements of words. Remember Ford Prefect telling Arthur Dent, "Put this fish in your ear." Just give it an unusual twist that makes it your own.
You could also have the new languages downloaded into their brain chips, something like how Neo download kungfu in the Matrix.
Ideas are not subject to copyright. Ideas can be patented, but only if they meet several conditions, and only after a lengthy and often expensive legal process. Refer to http://www.copyright.gov/ for anything you need to know about copyright law in the US. The law in most other countries is essentially the same, by international agreement, but check your own country's site for any specific details that may differ.
Hello everybody. I don’t know what it feels like to be the captain of a ship in this situation (or any situation, for that matter), but I did find a published first-hand account of a similar incident. The (hypothetical) article was a sort of memoir, describing the emotional aspects of such an ordeal. We’ll use the following example (from our hypothetical article): “The radio responded only with silence. Surrounded by many crewmen and passengers, I had never felt so alone or isolated in my life. I felt like I had failed them all.” Now, I (the author who’s never been lost at sea) want to write a story about a ship that (you guessed it) gets lost at sea. Of course, I look to the internet for direction, where I find the aforementioned quote. I write: “Captain Bradford, though he was in the company of all his men, felt unbearably isolated. Marooned. His inadequacies were as obvious as medals on his chest and he knew it all too well. His failure to serve his crew was incredibly hard to swallow, and brought with it a feeling that he could only identify as sea sickness.” Now, ignoring the contrived, unedited quotes above… would this example constitute plagiarism? I’ve used an idea -- or rather, an account -- that was clearly the product of somebody else as inspiration for the emotional response of my character. While I haven’t copied any passages or phrases, I have synthesized an idea based on the intellectual work of another. Opinions please. Thanks.
If copyright laws were that strict, nobody would be able to write anything realistic that they hadn't experienced first-hand. You want to know what it's like to be a ship's captain so you can write a story about a ship's captain. You read articles about it, and use what you learned in those articles to write the story. We are allowed to use non-fiction resources to make sure we use accurate information and show realistic portrayals of characters/circomstances in our fiction.
Using an idea is not plagiarism. Using someone else's expression of an idea, such as the phrasing, is plagiarism, even if you alter it to try to disquise the source. Whether it be an online article, a passage from a book, a poem, or a painting or photograph, the expression of an idea on a durable medium is protected by copyright. Taking it and presenting it as your own work, with or without alteration, is a violation of international copyright law. It is plagiarism.
The examples you provided are not plagiarism--if you omit the word "unbearly isolated" and just put alone. If it was an essay writing, on the other hand, it would. That's the irony of a creative piece.
Altering a quoted segment does not make it legal. It is still plagiarism. Altering it may make it more difficult to prove plagiarism, but it is still plagiarism. Essays are allowed to include quoted material, but only if the source is accurately acknowledged. That falls under a part of copyright law called Fair Use. Fair Use does not extend to inclusion of quoted material in fiction. To include copyrighted material in fiction, you must get written permission from the copyright owner.
Again, the problem I have is the very first line: Captain Bradford, thought he was in the company of all his men, felt unbearably isolated. This sounds too similar. If you just rewrite it as: Captain Bradford felt miserable and alone. It's not plagiarism. Dude, and why tell? Show, instead. “The radio responded only with silence. Surrounded by many crewmen and passengers, I had never felt so alone or isolated in my life. I felt like I had failed them all.” Hmm... “Captain Bradford felt miserable and alone. His inadequacies were as obvious as medals on his chest and he knew it all too well. He deserved to fling himself off the ship.” Is this plagiarism? I'm sorry, Apples, but I think you should just reword everything, cause the more I read you're examples your a plagiarist in my eyes.
It's very simple. If you take another person's writing as your own, with or without modification, It Is Plagiarism. Copy it verbatim, or replace a few words, or paraphrase it, and it is still stealing. If you pick up the idea, and put it entirely in your own words, then it is yours. But if you even take a list of points, and paraphrase the passage point by point, you ars still plagiarizing. When is it no longer plagiarism? When the source is no longer identifiable from the product in any reasonable way. Is there a gray area? Of course. That gray area arises when you put the idea of te original expression into words of your own. At some point, you are no longer taking any of the structure of the original into the product. If you try to balance on the edge of the blade, you WILL get cut.
Thank you all for the responses. Let me state again that this situation is entirely hypothetical and that none of these quotes exist anywhere but this thread. My question is not about the quotes or the percentage of unique material (in fact, "isolated" is the only keyword that appears in both passages), but something more abstract: Regardless of how I word it, my story HAS to depend on the emotion expressed by this fictional first-hand account. I simply have no other sources of how a captain would feel in this situation. By using these ideas in my story... and not just ideas like isolation, but specific ideas like isolation in the company of others... am I doing something wrong? Thanks, and I look forward to more input. -Apples
