Predators in the Midst

Jump to Last Post 1-2 of 2 discussions (17 posts)
  1. psycheskinner profile image82
    psycheskinnerposted 8 years ago

    I have been in many writing groups and run my own for 9 years now.

    I think the "writer who will steal my precious ideas" is 99.9999 a myth at the same level as the bogeyman who lives in the closet.

    1. Jacqueline4390 profile image81
      Jacqueline4390posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      If this is a myth then why do teachers always warn students against plagiarism? Why is there a need for copyright laws and why are there so many lawsuits against people for doing that exact thing?

      1. psycheskinner profile image82
        psycheskinnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        Plagiarism does not relate at all to "ideas".  You can only assert copyright over the fixed work (words in a specific order).  So that is a completely separate issue to someone stealing, for example, the idea of a pink haired pixies saving the forest from wolves (or whatever the idea is).

        And any teacher that stokes fear even about being a victim of plagiarism from a writers group... probably isn't published.  That is also 99.00% just not going to happen. They tend more to be making the point that you should never do it because it will cause your writing career to blow up in your face.  Not that you should never share your work with your peers out of fear of it.

        1. Jacqueline4390 profile image81
          Jacqueline4390posted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Then I stand corrected on the "idea" concept and will rephrase my comment. I am referring to people who paraphrase the works of others. This has happened.

        2. Marcy Goodfleisch profile image82
          Marcy Goodfleischposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Substantial paraphrasing without proper citation is considered a form of plagiarism (that's part of the official description of it at the university where I teach).

          Also, 'borrowing' a plot theme (book or movie) is frowned on - there have been lawsuits related to writing that significantly follows the plot of another work, but changes the writing.  There were lawsuits about at least two movies, Coming to America and My Big Fat Greek Wedding come to mind.  One very famous book was also the subject of a lawsuit - I think it was Gone With The Wind, but can't recall for sure.

          Ideas can indeed be protected - that's why there are Intellectual Property laws.

          1. Jacqueline4390 profile image81
            Jacqueline4390posted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Great points!

          2. psycheskinner profile image82
            psycheskinnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Schools can punished paraphrasing because they have pretty much absolute power of how they run themselves.  Under the law it is not illegal.  And as a former lecturer, yeah, trying to actually dock a grade based on paraphrasing is pointless.  Even blatant word-for-word plagiarism is getting harder to push through to the point where the student is actually penalized, sadly.

            And to sue over theft of an idea is a trademark or IP suit not a copyright one (copyright is very specifically defined and a separate issue) and almost never successful.  Even the very famous cases (against Stephen King and MZB) are mainly famously for being brought unsuccessfully by crazy people. So yeah, it has happened, but so has being struck by lightning from a clear blue sky.

            In the real world these things are rare, and in writing groups almost non-existent.  I very rarely meet published authors who give it very much thought to all.

            1. Jacqueline4390 profile image81
              Jacqueline4390posted 8 years agoin reply to this

              Professors at the University of Memphis definitely did punish plagiarizers. The syllabus each instructor gave placed special emphasis on this. The Department of Education at the U of M stressed researching and documentation. Since it was very easy to use software that would search for plagiarism; it was done quite regularly.

              Some institutions call it "Academic Integrity" (Roosevelt University) and issue Student Handbooks making them aware of the consequences of such behavior. It would definitely be a pity if this integrity was not extended beyond "ivory walls." But this might give a glimpse of some people's characters as well.

      2. Kylyssa profile image90
        Kylyssaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        That's because students without any writing abilities may try to commit plagiarism to complete a paper.

        Also, articles and scholarly papers are more often plagiarized.

    2. Kylyssa profile image90
      Kylyssaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Also, the idea is only maybe 1% or less of what goes into a novel and maybe 5% or less of what goes into a short story. Ideas are less than a dime a dozen.

      If you want a laugh and a half, check out writing gigs on craigslist where people think they're being super generous with a gig like, "I'll let you write a novel using my ideas and give you ten percent of the profit."

      Ideas are so easy to come by without the use of nefarious means that since I started writing down most of my ideas for novels about two years ago I've collected a bunch. I've got about three hundred novels plotted out in a folder on my desktop. I have dozens more ideas I haven't sat down and considered carefully enough to plot out. There's not a chance I'll ever write them all. I've even considered standardizing my plot outline format and publishing them as books of ideas by genre.

      1. flycatcherrr profile image67
        flycatcherrrposted 8 years agoin reply to this

        That's a cool idea, Kylyssa - publishing a book of ideas.  Why not?  Quick and easy to do, and I should think very easy to promote and sell.

        1. Kylyssa profile image90
          Kylyssaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          It's likely I'll do it because there's so much raw material I've generated for it. Each plot has anywhere from three to twelve pages to it, briefly outlining what happens in each chapter. I've written them out in a rather varied, almost random fashion so editing them until they are shorter, readable by normal humans, and share a format is going to be a big task. I should get on it because that's a lot of material to let go to waste and some of the ideas might become dated.

  2. Jacqueline4390 profile image81
    Jacqueline4390posted 8 years ago

    The National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) has a code of ethics that states that their members will: “Be Honest, Be Loyal, Be Fair and Be Competent.” Integrity is important in any profession.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)