15 August 2005 @ 06:15 am
Joy  
Really didn't want to get up this morning and now I see why. Another bloody plagiarism drama has hit Xander fic.

Same guy as before, y'know the notorious BX one, it's hit the lists already and I honestly don't know what to do about it. After he 'came out' and admitted what he'd done, apologized and started posting under his new name (apparently his real name) I let him post to INAP but did so on the condition that I was watching him closely. As soon as he did so I was contacted by someone who told me they knew he was posting again and that they had evidence that in one of his new stories he'd plagiarised. I asked what that evidence was and apparently what this person had done was google every single sentence and come up with one hit. On a porn site. Given the kind of things this guy writes that wasn't really all that surprising (in fact that the person reporting it to me only got one hit of that kind was the real surpiirse to me).

Now something similar is hitting the lists, again with the same kind of thing. The person reporting the plagiarism has googled some phrases from the stories and found some hits on an erotic stories newsgroup. Phrases. Not sentences.

I honestly don't know what to do about this. I will not have plagiarism on any of my sites, it should be as simple as that. But is this plagiarism? Especially given the nature of what he writes?

All thoughts and advice appreciated!
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[identity profile] jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com on August 14th, 2005 10:26 pm (UTC)
Isn't there a specific wordcount attached to the technical definition of plaigarism? I'd look it up but I'm exhausted. Something to ponder.
[identity profile] whiskyinmind.livejournal.com on August 14th, 2005 10:37 pm (UTC)
The last time we had a plagiarism case at INAP [livejournal.com profile] liz_marcs provided me with a legal definition which stated that it had to include three identical sentences to count as plagiarism, this clearly doesn't so I am leaning towards the coincidence angle myself. Thanks!
[identity profile] jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com on August 14th, 2005 11:55 pm (UTC)
Yeah. Sounds to me like, at worst, he's semi-consciously relaying previously read text from memory.
[identity profile] rachelmap.livejournal.com on August 14th, 2005 10:28 pm (UTC)
Phrases? I don't know... I don't think I'd call that plagiarism, unless there were a lot of them. Can you give us some examples?
[identity profile] whiskyinmind.livejournal.com on August 14th, 2005 10:35 pm (UTC)
That's the kind of thoughts I'm having. I want to believe it's coincidence, but I kinda did that first time round with this guy and got burned as a result. Examples for you (he writes NC-17 fic):

his story: "She clamped her eyes shut as pounded her on the table. She shrieked and clawed at my upper arms."

the search result: "She clamped her eyes shut and I pounded her into the sofa cushions. She shrieked and clawed at my upper arms."

Second example: "Her orgasm was a combination of relief, anguish, and joy mixed in one. A thorough vibration of her entire body as great tremors tore through her."

Search result: "I heard her sharp intake of breath followed by a groan of pleasure of serious proportions. It was a combination of relief, anguish and joy mixed in one...She came with a great squeeze to her captive and a thorough vibration of her whole body as"

Both of the search results came from the same usenet group, an erotic fiction group, but the fact that in all the stories he's posted, there's only these two examples given (both from different stories) does lean towards the coincidence angle in my head.
[identity profile] rachelmap.livejournal.com on August 14th, 2005 10:57 pm (UTC)
He might have read them earlier and they got stuck in his mind without him realizing it. I think if he were only copying them, he'd have done a better job.

Meh. Very meh.
(no subject) - (Anonymous) on April 17th, 2017 02:40 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] whiskyinmind.livejournal.com on August 14th, 2005 10:40 pm (UTC)
It does seem to be just one or two instances in two stories. I'm leaning towards the coincidence angle right now - as you say, there's only so many different ways to write some things.
[identity profile] sanityfaerie.livejournal.com on August 15th, 2005 05:44 am (UTC)
question...
Simplify the question. The question isn't really whether or not this person was plagiarizing. At this point, that's semantics. The question is what to do about it. Personally, my suggestion would be to give this person a warning, and tell them to change the offending phrases. If you think it appropriate, tell them to get ahold of some prereaders who can catch them at the unintentional stuff before it happens. If it happens again, can them.

On the other hand, if the stories they put out are utter drek anyway, it's not worth the time. Get rid of them.

the Sanity Faerie
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Naol[identity profile] naol.livejournal.com on August 15th, 2005 06:16 am (UTC)
For some reason, writing smut can get rather repetitive after a while *g*
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[identity profile] velvetwhip.livejournal.com on August 15th, 2005 06:41 am (UTC)
Normally, I would say that he might read quite a lot if smut and those phrases just stuck in his head as ways to word these actions. I'd hesitate to accuse him of deliberate plagiarism, except that he actually has a history of it...so, I don't know what to say.


Gabrielle
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[identity profile] kaz814.livejournal.com on August 15th, 2005 08:34 am (UTC)
In all honesty, I'd be leery of the new 'proof' simply because it's only phrases. Unless it uses specific and unpopular words or is a unique configuration, it's probably just a coincidence. There are only so many ways to say 'He kissed her' and such ...

But that's just me and unless all the proof is from one fic, I think it'll be very hard to prove it's not coincidence.

*HUGS*
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