I have always been annoyed to see other Bloggers who think they have the right to "Copy" and "Paste" full articles and then write a little sentence about what they think. It would be more ethical to simply leave your comment on the blog or article rather then STEAL the work of a writer and think it's all fine to use it as long as the writers byline and publication details are included.
Any REAL writer would never do anything like that knowing it is the cheaters way of adding content to their page or blog. But, as much as we try to advise our fellow bloggers of the errors of their way they seem to think they can do as they please.
It's been a little difficult to actually make it clear what is okay and what is not given that the Internet has made any ordinary person a writer (at least in their own minds anyway).
When I started writing on the Internet I was well educated on what Plagiarism was or was not and found it rather irritating to see Word Thieves all over thinking they could Slap the whole content of someone else's work up and link it to the original site and call things Good!
I would advise that anyone with a Blog who has been in the practice of pasting the whole work of someone else on their site take a quick look through their sites and fix up all their stolen words and try to think of some Original Way to add the work of someone else to your site instead of living in La-La Land going around using your Copy and Paste buttons. Writers are starting to get a little irritated about your habits of stealing our work.
Not to mention the fact that doing this kind of thing will not help your ranks with Google as Google doesn't like duplicated content and will push you down if you run around posting blog after blog filled with full text that was already published by someone else. Nasty little habit to get into.
There have not been any Clear cut guidelines in all these years. A few years ago on the Writers Digest site the standard rule was to take as little as possible and be sure to link well back to the REAL WRITER... even then the question was, "What is--as little as possible?"
Thank Goodness the Associated Press has decided to rumble a little about the content thieves among us! I would personally love to see them sue everyone who believes they can take their work and make it their own. I am looking forward to hearing what they decide "Fair Use" will actually be and will be on the front line reporting any and all infringements I personally see by any other blogger.
I hate to sound mean about it but, in all honesty it really ticks me off to work so hard to write original words and then witness all this copy and paste junk people seem to think qualifies them to claim they have actually written something of value. When I go looking around at Blogs I really am not interested in reading the same Associated Press article copied on 2,000 different Blogs. Doesn't anyone get the fact that once those words are written they don't really need to be republished on every single blog that likes what someone else Wrote?
It is NOT Blogging or Writing to reprint an article from any other website. Personally I would call that Scrap-booking or Collecting of some sort but certainly not writing an original piece of work.
I hope that all the fellow writers and journalistic businesses get serious and make it clear that Plagiarism is no little thing and won't be tolerated by housewives with computers who think they have added any value to the Internet by publishing the work of someone else with their own little comments below.
I think it's high time we just put an end to this habit of everyone with the ability to log-in and click a few keys calling themselves anything other then word thieves and criminals. This kind of stuff just didn't get ignored when the writing was left in the hands of writers and publications.
If you are a blogger who has been under the impression that it's all fine to do this sort of thing--please think again and go over your blog to be sure you are acting like the professional you want everyone to think you are. The fact of the matter is that we don't NEED you to duplicate anything that we can find written on the Internet. If you cannot write something on your own than perhaps you might consider taking up another hobby that is as equally simple--maybe coin collecting or playing Golf would be more fitting for you to spend time learning because it really isn't talent to Blog the words of someone else and leave your comment on your blog as if it really means a thing to anyone who can read it where it was originally published... Maybe grow a garden or learn to sew or better yet take some pictures and post them so everyone else can see you know how to do more then steal words from those of us who try to say something unique and new.
Oh and for those who have stolen my words please remember that letter I have sent telling you to fix your blog and give my words back because I might just be the second one in line when it comes to suing since I can afford an attorney and don't have much better to do when I am on a rampage!
Oh this is one way you might refer to another writers work:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/business/media/16ap.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs One of the largest news organizations, plans to define clear standards about how much of one of their articles or broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt without infringing on their copyright. Read More Here
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