Don't they understand what they are doing is plagiarism?
I realize, sadly, there are those who think just because they "find" something posted on the Internet that gives them license to freely use it
without attribution. It does not. This is especially worrisome since those who create anonymous blogs and fake Myspace pages seem to be the worst offenders,
especially when posting reviews or synopsis. I can't begin to list the number of times I've stumbled onto a review posted online that was obviously the
work of a content pirate, AKA a plagiarist, but they are not always easy to spot unless you've actually seen the movie. (Or read the orginal reviews.)
Oddly enough the most popular site for content pirates to pillage from is IMDB dot com. The mind-boggles at how often comments posted by users of that site appear, unattributed, on eBay listings or as part of the synopsis of movies posted to blogs. But that's just the beginning. Content thieves steal from everyone and anyone. Those who think this isn't a serious problem consider the following:
A Google search recently turned up a relatively new review, posted to a blog, of BEAST IN SPACE that was obviously cobbled together from bits and pieces of
text and pictures stolen wholesale from across the web. Now pictures are often used without attribution, so that can be forgiven. However I knew at a glance
this entire review was content piracy because it took me long weeks, perhaps months, of research to compile my own review, which can be found posted in the
review section of this very forum. In short I know what sites were out there for this movie. Now the compiler of this egregious fake review did attempt to
paraphrase the stolen bits so it wasn't obvious, at first. But there's one problem..
The person obviously never actually saw the movie. How do I know this? Certain of their 'comments' are totally off the mark for what
actually happens in the movie. (Though imaginative extrapolated guesses of content if all they had access to were the poster art and the Italian language
reviews I suspect they stole much of their content from.) I wont point out the errors but it's obvious to anyone who has actually seen the movie.
Why is this a problem?
First, persons who compile such fake reviews and/or articles are spreading misinformation and outright lies about the topic being discussed. Which can be a
real problem since too many people assume that if something is posted online it's accurate information. Second, posters of such reviews and/or articles are
perpetrating a fraud. Some may think it's no big deal to copy text from here or there and cobble it together to post onto their site, and for those who
think this way I suggest you read the articles What is
plagiarism? and Plagiarism and the
Internet posted at Plagiarism dot org.
The examples provided are primarily from an educators perspective but stealing of content is a serious business. And I mean that literally. Many sites are
set up with banner ads and other money making initiatives, thus the theft of content, whether through direct or indirect plagiarism or the posting of
fraudulent reviews is a serious crime. Worse, this offense impacts everyone serious about providing and seeking factual information on the Internet. It's
already difficult enough to verify information without the added insult of unscrupulous amoral idiots egregiously stealing bits and pieces of text and throwing
it together without any fact checking on their blogs as their own work.
That's what really bothers me. I noticed one review that was obviously a fake. But how many other articles are out there that haven't been properly
fact checked or, worse, were cobbled together from the works of others. Used to be the only thing you had to worry about were porn site redirects now
there's content pirates who don't even seem to care whhether or not what they are posting is in any way factual. Certainly I can't be the only one
concerned about this problem?
The moral: Don't add to the idiocy by pirating content.
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The above is Copyright © C. Demetrius Morgan
