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Post by autumnmist on Feb 24, 2020 18:19:34 GMT -8
I was privately warned by a poster on another site that I frequent (and don't misquote articles as I seem to be doing here!) and warned that people on that site apparently collect comments made on one particular as well as other forums, incorporate them into a book and sell them, obviously w/o recognition to the original poster.
I'm not so concerned about theft of something I've written as I am about the subterfuge of prowling on sites and collecting what someone else has written, then publishing it, apparently under some else's name. And I feel as though a drone has entered cyberspace and is spying on those of us who post on that site.
Has anyone had any experience with something like this, or heard of this kind of plagiarism? The person offered to send me e-mails proving the allegations. I have this strange feeling; I don't know anything about this person, although it doesn't surprise me that there's plagiarism taking place on that site.
This is weird, and kind of eerie. |
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Feb 24, 2020 19:12:19 GMT -8
I guess this might be an argument for making mistakes of grammar and fact, just so they'll have to thoroughly edit the text. I would not want to be responsible for that task myself, being the OCD weirdo I am.
There is every likelihood that this sort of thing goes on all the time, but I can't trouble myself to worry about it.
It's only a matter of time before "bots" are writing books this way, which would, I think, make it imperative to review purchases thoroughly. :^D
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Post by johntpenca on Feb 24, 2020 19:53:16 GMT -8
I'm not so concerned about theft of something I've written as I am about the subterfuge of prowling on sites and collecting what someone else has written If you put it on the net, people will use it. Unless you can lawyer up, it's a given. |
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desert dweller
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Post by desert dweller on Feb 25, 2020 7:00:07 GMT -8
One way to see if someone is using your words on the internet is to do a Google search of a particular phrasing used in a post by you. I did this using a group of words taken from gabby post above. Here is the phrase I used from him. "bots are writing books" You need to put the entire phrase in quotation marks for the search window. Google found one entry that used the exact phraseology. Here is the result of that search.  |
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Post by Lamebeaver on Feb 25, 2020 7:12:17 GMT -8
I may contribute topical comments others may find interesting at the time, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to look back at anything I've said in the future, and I certainly wouldn't expect that anyone would actually pay for this.
Dust, wind, dude.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Feb 25, 2020 8:39:44 GMT -8
One way to see if someone is using your words on the internet is to do a Google search of a particular phrasing used in a post by you. I did this using a group of words taken from gabby post above. Here is the phrase I used from him. "bots are writing books" I used to do this all the time to see, when certain right wing types posted here, where they were posting from when they suddenly became seemingly "knowledgeable". Most of them were only semi-literate, reproducing the same stupid spelling and grammar errors in every post, so when they suddenly posted something mostly error-free and strangely more coherent, I always figured it must have come from one of those right wing propaganda sites. I was rarely disappointed in my search. Given the sort of folk they usually are - semi-literate - they never gave information from those sites attribution, either consciously or not. I, OTOH, read at least some, and may reproduce a phrase or thought or concept here and there, but I mostly scramble things in "interpretation". My interests range from the political to the technical. I also have a penchant for articles about automobiles: both old ones with which I have fond associations, and new, racy, sexy sports cars, which I'll never be able to afford. The latest in that particular area is the Czinger carbon-chassis "hypercar", which is 3D printed. Electric motor drive in front, near 1000 hp V8 in the back, near 270mph top speed, 0-60 sub 2 seconds. But a $1.7 million price. |
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Post by autumnmist on Feb 25, 2020 8:58:00 GMT -8
gabby , thanks for the humor! I am aware that DMCA breaches aren't anything new. On bots writing books: given some of the so-called literature I've seen lately by follow-on authors allegedly carrying out the legacy of deceased authors, I wonder if that's already begun. If so, I think the cardinal rule might be use as many expletives and insert as many crude remarks as possible. Before I buy a book from a favorite author, I check to make sure he/she is still alive so I don't end up with trash pretending to be literature. johntpenca , I understand this may be the attitude, but it's still wrong, and illegal. And then it becomes a task for the original author to address, shifting the burden of proof. Would you be angry if someone stole photos you post, claimed them as theirs, and sold them in a coffee table type book? desert dweller , thanks for the suggestions. I've done several searches and thus far found nothing that corresponds to some specific wording I've used. I'm going to keep checking, but I suspect that I won't find anything. From what the DeepThroat poster told me, this person also uses the quotes in some "collaborative" ways to problem solve, later bringing in professionals (medical, psychiatric, etc.) to review and comment on the collaborative's conclusions. It might just be like adding hand grown, hand threshed and ground flour to an end ingredient, but the DT poster was very earnest in warning me. And I read this morning that our private message thread was reviewed last night and closed for comment. I know Admins have access to private messages, but I thought that action was too quick, and too harsh, especially given some of the public postings, feuds and name calling. Lamebeaver , I would have agreed, up to now. I can't imagine anyone paying for something I write. But that particular field is one that's becoming more marketable, with diversions that seem to appeal to people ready to leverage and profit, especially those relating to private health issues. Thanks to each of you for sharing opinions and advice. One way I realized that could hurt me is if I ever write a book on that subject (which I've thought of doing for years), using my terminology, and being faced with legal issues b/c someone else has already incorporated them in copyrighted material.
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Post by johntpenca on Feb 25, 2020 19:53:22 GMT -8
johntp , I understand this may be the attitude, but it's still wrong, and illegal. And then it becomes a task for the original author to address, shifting the burden of proof. Would you be angry if someone stole photos you post, claimed them as theirs, and sold them in a coffee table type book? If I post something on the net without copyrighting it, it's fair game. I don't have the resources to fight it legally. If you don't want it copied and used, don't put it on the net. Copyright infringement lawsuits are what took down my favorite forum, Supertopo.com |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Feb 26, 2020 6:39:41 GMT -8
It’s an interesting question, though I can’t see anyone wanting to collect any of my BPBasecamp words of wisdom  I do at times worry about theft of matter published on my blog, though that is all supposedly copyrighted. How would I ever know if someone did steal my words? Yet it does matter, since I can and do expect people to pay for some of my writing (y’all get these babblings here for free ) |
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Post by autumnmist on Feb 26, 2020 8:56:48 GMT -8
rebeccad , just keep babbling. I enjoy your posts, your trip reports, observations and of course your wisdom. As to my original post, I've done some digging and learned some interesting things. Still doing some research, and realizing there's more to the use of the posts than I originally realized. But I'm making a lot of typos today and the new glasses seem to be readjusting themselves. So rather than produce something full of typos, or nod my head up and down like a wound-up toy, I'll just return later.
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Post by johntpenca on Feb 26, 2020 10:05:00 GMT -8
Copyright infringement lawsuits are what took down my favorite forum, Supertopo.com Quoting my own post here. Wanted to elaborate. The real reason Supertopo shut down was the subject of a lot of debate and never disclosed by the owners. It was generally agreed that copyright infringement lawsuits were the cause, but never confirmed/verified. It was common practice on Supertopo for members to scan print copies and copy/paste electronic articles/images for posting on the forum. Out of the blue, the owners started removing images from posts, both current and past. My guess is eventually the effort was overwhelming and did not satisfy the legal issues. At any rate, one day the mods announced the forum would be shut down, but remain available as an archive, with all the images removed. It is very sad. There were many historical photos posted up by the image owners that were lost in the purge and will likely never see the light of day again. Original photos/images posted by some of Yosemite's greatest, along with some of the most accomplished mountaineers in the world. All that is left is the post text. |
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Feb 26, 2020 10:48:00 GMT -8
A long time ago, a good friend of mine took a recipe I'd given her and entered a contest with it, and won. I may never have known about it had she not won, but she was super excited and I think she fully assumed that I would be flattered. I wasn't in the least.
So, while my inclination is to say that you should probably assume that whatever you write/say in public is open to be plagiarized, misquoted, repeated and shared, I probably wouldn't feel OK about it if I found myself being quoted without acknowledgement or permission.
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desert dweller
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Post by desert dweller on Feb 26, 2020 11:07:47 GMT -8
I probably wouldn't feel OK about it if I found myself being quoted without acknowledgement or permission. Only once have I been contacted about using a photo I had uploaded to Flickr. The woman was responsible for publishing a yearly update to the state of the Gila River for some conservation organization and she wanted to use one of my pictures. I was totally flattered and appreciated that she made contact. I asked that she credit me and send me a copy of the report. This is the one she selected.  |
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jazzmom
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Post by jazzmom on Feb 26, 2020 11:44:32 GMT -8
I was totally flattered and appreciated that she made contact. Yeah, that's the thing. Just a simple ask probably makes the difference between being taken advantage of and being flattered. Most of the time, it would be so easy to do... |
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 5, 2020 7:02:16 GMT -8
I was totally flattered and appreciated that she made contact. Yeah, that's the thing. Just a simple ask probably makes the difference between being taken advantage of and being flattered. Most of the time, it would be so easy to do... This. If anyone wants to use my photos I will be flattered. But if they intend to make money of them, yeah, I’d probably like a share . And my words... well, I sell them, so I do care. As noted above, in particular anything on my own personal web page is mine, and I would be more than a little pissed if I found one of my stories wandering the internet without permission! |
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