Seriously...We need to know!

[jonsie]

Ok, hopefully as this is of important relevance it won't get deleted by administration or moderators who want to shy away from the subject. 

I notice that articles from other websites have been totally copied and pasted and a source link added as a footnote. 

I need to know what constitutes plagiarism and the legal implications  to members and admin should such threads be reported to the original authors or websites. 

We normally make comments in our own words when linking to something we find interesting rather than copy and paste the whole article and let members form their own opinion and respond with their own thoughts.

If I quote from an article I make it quite obvious by using quotation marks and italics. I don't find it acceptable to be posting as though I am the author. Everyone on here knows my grammar errors on occasions and knows that they are my own thought and words.

Please discuss as I for one would hate to breach the T&Cs of forum rules. Ultimately O2 are responsible and accountable for the content they allow on their community. 

[Anonymous]

Are there any clear rules that don't get broken 

[jonsie]

It would seem to be differing interpretations of the same community rules for different people.

[Anonymous]

One rule for us & one for another 

[Toby]

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@Beenherebefore wrote:
If you quote directly from the work and reference that with the link to that work then no copyright infringement or plagiarism exists.

Whether that is correct or not is down to Community Admin.

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Hi guys,

The above is the basis on which our team operates. If a source is given, it is not plagiarism or infringing on copyrights. When news stories are linked to (with excerpts or not), its a post made by a person (i.e. a community member), not a company. The O2 Community hosts content, but its created by members. Having said that, its our team's responsibility to make sure everything is sourced properly if shared from other sites (and we would ask you to provide a source via PM most probably). I think most of the apparent frustration here is down to the length of excerpts. This is personal opinion and does not relate to copyright or plagiarism issues.

No one has in my view broken any rules here guys. There's not need to worry in my view which I hope helps!

[Cleoriff]

I have said before that we all post in different ways...This is fine and allows individuality.

Excerpts should always be permitted.... as long as they are referenced.

What should never be allowed is a copy and paste of a complete article whether referenced or not...That infringes on copyright and can be classed as plagiarism.

http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/

[gmarkj]

It does seem strange to copy/paste an entire article when you really only need the relevant points/highlights depending on what you are trying to do (back up an argument/opinion or pointing out some new news), as well as the link to the source.
Depending on what it is though you may need more or less of the source to put it into context, but that would still negate the need for an entire page.
I think it is less down to "hitting quotas" for new pages - simply pointing it out in a post creates the new post (unless it is more a word count exercise?) .
Personally the reward is a bonus, and not the main reason for posting/helping. It is knowing that you have helped either directly (answering/solving a problem) or indirectly (made a guide/how to for a problem that exists but has not been asked about) which is the main motivation.

[Cleoriff]

Just to add to what I said above...in case there is limited time to read the link I provided...

[Bambino]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

I have said before that we all post in different ways...This is fine and allows individuality.

Excerpts should always be permitted.... as long as they are referenced.

What should never be allowed is a copy and paste of a complete article whether referenced or not...That infringes on copyright and can be classed as plagiarism.

http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/

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@Toby With reference to the link that @Cleoriff has posted above, this is a quote from a section of a document on that site defining plagiarism: 

"copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not"

There is absolutely no need to completely copy and paste an entire article relating to a topic. Mention the article. Post the link. If anyone's interested they'll click on that link and read the article. Posting an entire article verbatim is, in my opinion and it appears other's as well, illegal, and certainly unnecessary.

[Toby]

Hi guys,

The point here about plagiarism is where content is being used in a news article, blog or other kinds of professional content. This is a community of members. Quoting an article in a community is making others aware of info and its not considered in the same way as fully formed online articles and content. For example, if and when we add a blogging section (which we may do for Try The Tech reviews and others), our guidelines on using quotes and sources will be much more rigid.

I've explained our view on this and its how it will be for the time-being. As I said earlier, I think this thread's main points being made are down to personal opinion  

[Beenherebefore]

"Plagiarism.org is a free resource sponsored by iParadigms LLC, makers of Turnitin, WriteCheck, and iThenticate."

http://www.plagiarism.org/ is just another person(s) opinion not a definitive decision source.

Legislation is the only definitive source.