Is Plagiarism this Common?

[emmaki]

I appreciate all this input. My instincts tell me not to mess with it at

all. I’m not a spinner…not a re-writer…just a simple copy editor. I

picture someone taking one of my e-books or blog posts and re-writing it to

fit their own agenda and that does not set well with me. I work hard on my

original content and think others should do the same.

I work hard on my

original content and think others should do the same

I find that a problematic statement. I understand totally if you just want to copy-edit, but that’s no reason to say this. Original content costs a lost more than copypasta for a reason. But with writing largely devalued, why not take those job? If you’re good at words, just spin and remix. Like a DJ. Do you think remixes and so on are also wrong?

Treat your writing as the art it is. If they want a straight rewrite, give it to 'em. Read between the lines, create some thing new. There’s more to it than apostrophes and periods. Especially periods (NOW LAUGH). SSJ thinks it’s OK to not support` mental illness, btw, so his opinion can be discounted–he ran away and called me rude when I challenged him.

@ssj1236 – I did say your opinion was noted. You are welcome to flag this. But do remember how you also violated the forum rules regarding self-promo before clicking that button.

[triciak]

I work hard on my

original content and think others should do the same

I find that a problematic statement. I understand totally if you just want to copy-edit, but that’s no reason to say this. Original content costs a lost more than copypasta for a reason. But with writing largely devalued, why not take those job? If you’re good at words, just spin and remix. Like a DJ. Do you think remixes and so on are also wrong?

Treat your writing as the art it is. If they want a straight rewrite, give it to 'em. Read between the lines, create some thing new. There’s more to it than apostrophes and periods. Especially periods (NOW LAUGH). SSJ thinks it’s OK to not support` mental illness, btw, so his opinion can be discounted–he ran away and called me rude when I challenged him.

@ssj1236 – I did say your opinion was noted. You are welcome to flag this. But do remember how you also violated the forum rules regarding self-promo before clicking that button.

I felt I could say this with confidence since I put it in the context of

someone copying my original content and spinning it. I don’t like the idea,

so I won’t support the idea. No judgement on someone who has no problem

with it, it’s simply not for me. I’m the same way with anything pre-made,

though. Give me a blank sheet of paper any day!

[cyaxrex]

I felt I could say this with confidence since I put it in the context of

someone copying my original content and spinning it. I don’t like the idea,

so I won’t support the idea. No judgement on someone who has no problem

with it, it’s simply not for me. I’m the same way with anything pre-made,

though. Give me a blank sheet of paper any day!

I think that you need to maybe understand what plagiarism really is exactly. For instance, if someone asked you to write a recipe for bread, would you simply find a recipe and rewrite it? Or would you attempt to reinvent bread for the sake of writing a recipe which has never ever been published before?

Most writers anywhere are article spinners, due to the fact that all we are really doing is spinning information which we gather through research. The exception, of course, is if you write a book (fiction or non-fiction).

That said, it is important to also understand what most people mean by ‘article spinning.’ This is because most contemporary spinners don’t rewrite articles. Instead, they use software to substitute certain words in order for the finished article to pass online plagiarism checkers.

If someone asks me to rewrite a piece of existing content, they don’t mean copy it. They mean write an article on this specific theme and improve it.

While this might sound at odds with your personal view of plagiarism, I highly doubt that you will make progress building a steady client base on Fiverr (or anywhere) if you resolutely refuse to write articles due to your belief that doing so is morally wrong.

Your logic if you like, is a little like saying that The New York Times can’t cover the exact same story covered in The Washington Post tomorrow, as doing so would be plagarism. - Of course they can, they just can’t copy it word for word and need to put their own editorial spin on it.

[triciak]

I think that you need to maybe understand what plagiarism really is exactly. For instance, if someone asked you to write a recipe for bread, would you simply find a recipe and rewrite it? Or would you attempt to reinvent bread for the sake of writing a recipe which has never ever been published before?

Most writers anywhere are article spinners, due to the fact that all we are really doing is spinning information which we gather through research. The exception, of course, is if you write a book (fiction or non-fiction).

That said, it is important to also understand what most people mean by ‘article spinning.’ This is because most contemporary spinners don’t rewrite articles. Instead, they use software to substitute certain words in order for the finished article to pass online plagiarism checkers.

If someone asks me to rewrite a piece of existing content, they don’t mean copy it. They mean write an article on this specific theme and improve it.

While this might sound at odds with your personal view of plagiarism, I highly doubt that you will make progress building a steady client base on Fiverr (or anywhere) if you resolutely refuse to write articles due to your belief that doing so is morally wrong.

Your logic if you like, is a little like saying that The New York Times can’t cover the exact same story covered in The Washington Post tomorrow, as doing so would be plagarism. - Of course they can, they just can’t copy it word for word and need to put their own editorial spin on it.

I think I clearly understand what plagiarism is. To your points:

If someone asked me to write a recipe for bread, I would do so to the best

of my ability while knowing what goes into bread (flour, yeast, liquid at

the very least). I might have to experiment with quantities. If they simply

asked me for a recipe, I could send them a link and give full credit to the

original recipe creator.

I am a writer, but I am not a spinner, nor do I use someone else’s work

without giving credit. If I quote someone, I tell who I’m quoting. This can

be done; we don’t have to use other people’s work.

In my gigs, I do not offer writing. I offer only copy editing and

proofreading. Thus, I have a good customer base and enough work each week

already. So, no, I do not have to resort to spinning in order to succeed on

Fiverr (or any other forum).

Certainly the New York Times can cover the exact same story as any other

publication; they simply need to get their own information from their own

sources and write the story without reading others’ stories first. If they

do read others, they can cite them as a source.

If article spinning has to focus on passing plagiarism checkers, how is it

not a form of plagiarism? If it isn’t, why even worry about plagiarism? Do

they not want to have others realize they just copied someone else’s

original content and spun it to fit their own needs? Why worry about

plagiarism checkers if you’re not plagiarizing?

[artlifeoriginal]

I work hard on my

original content and think others should do the same

I find that a problematic statement. I understand totally if you just want to copy-edit, but that’s no reason to say this. Original content costs a lost more than copypasta for a reason. But with writing largely devalued, why not take those job? If you’re good at words, just spin and remix. Like a DJ. Do you think remixes and so on are also wrong?

Treat your writing as the art it is. If they want a straight rewrite, give it to 'em. Read between the lines, create some thing new. There’s more to it than apostrophes and periods. Especially periods (NOW LAUGH). SSJ thinks it’s OK to not support` mental illness, btw, so his opinion can be discounted–he ran away and called me rude when I challenged him.

@ssj1236 – I did say your opinion was noted. You are welcome to flag this. But do remember how you also violated the forum rules regarding self-promo before clicking that button.

(Yes, I know you weren’t replying to me, but…)

Do you think remixes and so on are also wrong?

No, a remix is not wrong. But it’s a remix of someone else’s work, identified. A DJ does not claim that they created the work from nothing. I doubt that people use ‘spun’ material with a notice that says 'this article is a rewrite of another article" and then specify where it can be found (I could be wrong).

But with writing largely devalued

Does non-original content not further devalue writing, though?

[emmaki]

(Yes, I know you weren’t replying to me, but…)

Do you think remixes and so on are also wrong?

No, a remix is not wrong. But it’s a remix of someone else’s work, identified. A DJ does not claim that they created the work from nothing. I doubt that people use ‘spun’ material with a notice that says 'this article is a rewrite of another article" and then specify where it can be found (I could be wrong).

But with writing largely devalued

Does non-original content not further devalue writing, though?

Well, look at romance books. It’s the same generic product every single time with a facelift. Same for Hollywood movies. We all know how thrillers work. We all know that Angela Lansbery is going to go to a posh place where someone will murder someone and we all play guess the murderer and it’s not the obvious evil guy but maybe the–shock, it was the antagonised butler whose motive was revealed 10 minutes towards the end! I could go on.

When I speak of devalued writing, I’m talking about people who can’t write, getting paid to write junk–or simply just outright plagiarize other content without even bothering to edit it, all for the sake of $5. My position is that if it’s well written and edited, it will be a fresh new piece. Derivative from the original–sure. I usually add in a couple of new opinions (because I am opinionated!). These clients don’t want to pay full rates for fresh content, but they do want good content. This is a way to give it to them. Beyond that, the ethics and morality is down to each person. It’s not writing an academic paper (not for pay–that I do disapprove of) where quotations, bibliographies and all the rest of it are the norm. I guess the online equivalent is the good old hyperlink, but if you’re rewriting smart, you’re not going to do that–you’ll find some other sources, and better sources. Not that I do this when I rewrite–that’s the client’s job, though I doubt many considered it.

Plus, there are a few people out there who just want a rewrite because while they’ve written something, they just feel that it’s not good enough and that a good writer can breathe some fresh new air into what feels like stale content.

I mean, we’re talking “Top 10 Ways Cats: The Musical Changed The Way We Eat” internet crap here. Nobody really cares, do they? Even with more business stuff like “Why You Need To Sit Up and Take Notice of Big Data’s Big Brother” is just going to be some tech article that gets rehashed. Press Releases these days: just throw that up on the site.

I mean, this is probably more to do with Google’s insistence on better quality content–I’m sure we remember the days when any old crap was thrown up and somehow ranked despite being as informative as a broken toaster. Now, they’re at least written in OK English (generally) and although it’s one of many very, very similar articles, it’s a step forward.

Perhaps Google will further develop its ability to detect similarities in rewrites and penalize newer spins/rewrites/etc (to the howls of anguished website owners across the globe). But until the day that doing this actively harms those website owners, they’re not going to stop. Ethics isn’t going to win here–but it rarely does outside the ivory towers of academia.

Here finishes the sermon 😉

EDIT: @fastcopywriter’s correct about the news-jacking. Hm, could be a gig idea…

[ssj1236]

I work hard on my

original content and think others should do the same

I find that a problematic statement. I understand totally if you just want to copy-edit, but that’s no reason to say this. Original content costs a lost more than copypasta for a reason. But with writing largely devalued, why not take those job? If you’re good at words, just spin and remix. Like a DJ. Do you think remixes and so on are also wrong?

Treat your writing as the art it is. If they want a straight rewrite, give it to 'em. Read between the lines, create some thing new. There’s more to it than apostrophes and periods. Especially periods (NOW LAUGH). SSJ thinks it’s OK to not support` mental illness, btw, so his opinion can be discounted–he ran away and called me rude when I challenged him.

@ssj1236 – I did say your opinion was noted. You are welcome to flag this. But do remember how you also violated the forum rules regarding self-promo before clicking that button.

I don’t think I’ve done any self-promo on this thread. Have I?

[Guest scottorr16]

I felt I could say this with confidence since I put it in the context of

someone copying my original content and spinning it. I don’t like the idea,

so I won’t support the idea. No judgement on someone who has no problem

with it, it’s simply not for me. I’m the same way with anything pre-made,

though. Give me a blank sheet of paper any day!

I felt I could say this with confidence since I put it in the context of

someone copying my original content and spinning it. I don’t like the idea,

so I won’t support the idea. No judgement on someone who has no problem

with it, it’s simply not for me. I’m the same way with anything pre-made,

though.

Okay, send all your re-write buyers to me … I’ll be happy to do the work and make the money from it.

[triciak]

I felt I could say this with confidence since I put it in the context of

someone copying my original content and spinning it. I don’t like the idea,

so I won’t support the idea. No judgement on someone who has no problem

with it, it’s simply not for me. I’m the same way with anything pre-made,

though.

Okay, send all your re-write buyers to me … I’ll be happy to do the work and make the money from it.

Good! What a relief, scottorr16 http://forum.fiverr.com/users/scottorr16.

Thank you.

[emmaki]

I don’t think I’ve done any self-promo on this thread. Have I?

I don’t think I’ve done any self-promo on this thread. Have I?

No, you’re alright here–I’m talking about somewhere else.

@triciak

You do realize that shameless self-promotion is exactly what @scottorr16 has done–without even adding a shred of useful information to this discussion, or indeed any other one on the forum? You had better hope he has the credentials he professes to, otherwise it will reflect poorly on both of you…

[ssj1236]

I don’t think I’ve done any self-promo on this thread. Have I?

No, you’re alright here–I’m talking about somewhere else.

@triciak

You do realize that shameless self-promotion is exactly what @scottorr16 has done–without even adding a shred of useful information to this discussion, or indeed any other one on the forum? You had better hope he has the credentials he professes to, otherwise it will reflect poorly on both of you…

Ah, so you mean the other thread. That was because I didn’t know there was such a rule (been on the forums for like two days, sorry) but I’ve deleted all the comments from that thread just in case.

[triciak]

I don’t think I’ve done any self-promo on this thread. Have I?

No, you’re alright here–I’m talking about somewhere else.

@triciak

You do realize that shameless self-promotion is exactly what @scottorr16 has done–without even adding a shred of useful information to this discussion, or indeed any other one on the forum? You had better hope he has the credentials he professes to, otherwise it will reflect poorly on both of you…

Right. I would certainly check him out first if I was going to actually

refer someone. If nothing else, this thread has been educational.

[fitrigwrites4u]

How can we tell/know if our writings have been plagiarised (not spinned) by other people? What tool is good to track this down?

Edited: Never mind, I have found it.

[zeeshan_tirmizi]

How can we tell/know if our writings have been plagiarised (not spinned) by other people? What tool is good to track this down?

Edited: Never mind, I have found it.

Tell me the name of tool.

[fitrigwrites4u]

Tell me the name of tool.

@zeeshan_tirmizi well I found grammarly. have you used it before? is it good? i´m still learning it. So don´t take it from me.

[emeraldawnn]

I have yet to join in on this discussion here, but here’s my view of a rewrite…

It’s research that’s already been done for me. I take the article and rewrite it so that it retains its meaning without using any of the exact wording of the original article. Many times, I’ll do a quick search on the topic to see if there’s anything more I can add to the article.

I use grammarly, hemingway and copyscape to check my work. I especially do this if the topic has been overdone - dating, diets, nutrition, exercise, etc. Heck, I do this with even my research gigs because the Internet is filled with so much material.

That’s my two-cents.

It’s not as easy as once was to get an original article these days. Even Hollywood is spinning material again!

[fitrigwrites4u]

I have yet to join in on this discussion here, but here’s my view of a rewrite…

It’s research that’s already been done for me. I take the article and rewrite it so that it retains its meaning without using any of the exact wording of the original article. Many times, I’ll do a quick search on the topic to see if there’s anything more I can add to the article.

I use grammarly, hemingway and copyscape to check my work. I especially do this if the topic has been overdone - dating, diets, nutrition, exercise, etc. Heck, I do this with even my research gigs because the Internet is filled with so much material.

That’s my two-cents.

It’s not as easy as once was to get an original article these days. Even Hollywood is spinning material again!

@emeraldawnn Thanks for the info.

[emeraldawnn]

@emeraldawnn Thanks for the info.

Welcome… (I take you meant about Grammarly and Hemingway).

[fitrigwrites4u]

Welcome… (I take you meant about Grammarly and Hemingway).

@emeraldawnn I have never tried Hemingway. But I´ll look it up. Thanks again.

[writer99025]

I have a rewrite Gig and my position on this issue is the same as @emeraldawnn 's. That’s my last bit of wisdom for the day, have an appointment with a dentist, root canal treatment and crown replacement.

[fitrigwrites4u]

I have a rewrite Gig and my position on this issue is the same as @emeraldawnn 's. That’s my last bit of wisdom for the day, have an appointment with a dentist, root canal treatment and crown replacement.

@writer99025 Get well soon for the tooth!

[writer99025]

@writer99025 Get well soon for the tooth!

My only concern is the cost of the treatment…that’s 7000 rupees or $120 FOR A SINGLE TOOTH…jeez…that’s two good days’ work on Fiverr …damned dentists…should have been done for 700 rupees really, but they have all the control.[And they say India is cheap. Hah.]

[zeeshan_tirmizi]

I have a rewrite Gig and my position on this issue is the same as @emeraldawnn 's. That’s my last bit of wisdom for the day, have an appointment with a dentist, root canal treatment and crown replacement.

Get a golden one bhai!

[fitrigwrites4u]

My only concern is the cost of the treatment…that’s 7000 rupees or $120 FOR A SINGLE TOOTH…jeez…that’s two good days’ work on Fiverr …damned dentists…should have been done for 700 rupees really, but they have all the control.[And they say India is cheap. Hah.]

@writer99025 But any ammount of money is worth it. Having a toothache sucks, we all know that. Sometimes I wonder how my old dogs feels. Some of them are toothless on lots of part of their gum, and some of their remaining teeth are just so shitty. But I got them when they are already old, so I wasn´t the one who made their teeth so shitty like that.

[therealjamesarq]

Another late opinion here, but I’m going to share it anyways:

I agree with @triciak, when I write something original, I would absolutely despise it if someone just swooped in and copied my piece exactly as it was written—barely changing the words so that it would not technically be plagiarizing.

However, if someone were to be inspired by my work, get the general gist, and then write something essentially new, I’m fine with it (maybe even crediting me). This is what I believe @emmaki, @fonthaunt, @artlifeoriginal, and others mean by the term “spinning” and “rewriting”.

I think the real debate is finding a definition of the terms “spinning” and “rewriting”, as well as identifying the line where it’s just plain plagiarism.

Buuuuuut… what do I know about this topic?