Final (I hope!) update on the plagiarism case: Guilty and not unintentionally so
The 'spikes_kogagirl is guilty' post at stop_plagiarism I mentioned yesterday has been unlocked, clarified and ETA'd. To quote the mod, archylou, who has worked diligently on this:
The main issues:
• The phrase “Undead's not bad, but dead's no fun at all” is from Twilight Time and when I searched this specific phrase it returned only 1 match, the story 'Twilight Time'. While the serach for the phrase “Undead is alright, but dead is no fun at all” brings back a match of 0. This is not a common phrase at all and points directly to very slight rewording of the original story.
• The telephone conversation between Angel and Spike, both in language and how it is written. When both stories are viewed along side of one another the format is almost identical with only minor changes to language and description. This type of writing style does not appear again in 'mending souls' however it is common in 'Twilight Time"
• A specific mention within both stories Xander’s telling Spike of "you got to first base without even taking me out on a date". Again a search for this specific phrase only brings back one match, to Twilight Time. This is another phrase that is not common and does point to a copying of the original story.
In viewing these two stories side by side, there are unmistakable similarities and obvious rewording of certain scenes. The defense that this is not plagiarism because it was unintentional is not a valid excuse.
I have been able to communicate with all involved and while the new story was removed immediately after spikes_kogagirl was made aware of the issue and did offer to rewrite the story, spikes_kogagirl did not believe 'mending souls' was a case of plagiarism as she never intended to plagiarise Twilight Time and the stories simply shared themes.
However, due to the copying and rewording as I have outlined above spikes_kogagirl will be added to the list of known plagiarists.
ETA - I have had further communication from spikes_kogagirl in which she has now stated that she does no longer deny the accusations.
/quote
You don't have to steal the whole story for it to be plagiarism. Plagiarism isn't about how much you steal, it's about the act of stealing. Please don't.
Okay, hopefully this will draw a line under the matter. All of the posts involved will remain open for all to read. If you have questions, please ask them on one of the relevant posts here in bloodclaim or even in my lj, but not in stop_plagiarism.
Thank you all for your patience and good behaviour in this matter. *hugs*
The main issues:
• The phrase “Undead's not bad, but dead's no fun at all” is from Twilight Time and when I searched this specific phrase it returned only 1 match, the story 'Twilight Time'. While the serach for the phrase “Undead is alright, but dead is no fun at all” brings back a match of 0. This is not a common phrase at all and points directly to very slight rewording of the original story.
• The telephone conversation between Angel and Spike, both in language and how it is written. When both stories are viewed along side of one another the format is almost identical with only minor changes to language and description. This type of writing style does not appear again in 'mending souls' however it is common in 'Twilight Time"
• A specific mention within both stories Xander’s telling Spike of "you got to first base without even taking me out on a date". Again a search for this specific phrase only brings back one match, to Twilight Time. This is another phrase that is not common and does point to a copying of the original story.
In viewing these two stories side by side, there are unmistakable similarities and obvious rewording of certain scenes. The defense that this is not plagiarism because it was unintentional is not a valid excuse.
I have been able to communicate with all involved and while the new story was removed immediately after spikes_kogagirl was made aware of the issue and did offer to rewrite the story, spikes_kogagirl did not believe 'mending souls' was a case of plagiarism as she never intended to plagiarise Twilight Time and the stories simply shared themes.
However, due to the copying and rewording as I have outlined above spikes_kogagirl will be added to the list of known plagiarists.
ETA - I have had further communication from spikes_kogagirl in which she has now stated that she does no longer deny the accusations.
/quote
You don't have to steal the whole story for it to be plagiarism. Plagiarism isn't about how much you steal, it's about the act of stealing. Please don't.
Okay, hopefully this will draw a line under the matter. All of the posts involved will remain open for all to read. If you have questions, please ask them on one of the relevant posts here in bloodclaim or even in my lj, but not in stop_plagiarism.
Thank you all for your patience and good behaviour in this matter. *hugs*