Let's Talk About Plagiarism
Hello arashirabu members! Apologies for two mod posts back to back, but I wanted to highlight an important issue with the community.
Every now and then we get a request on our master request post for fics written by tsunderellasays, who was active in fandom for some time before deleting their journal and disappearing. What most people do not seem to know is that this person stole fiction.
What do I mean by this? The user took stories from other fandoms and changed the names of the characters to Arashi members, then pretended they were the one who had written the fics. Said user also took stories written by Arashi fans (one was even written for them in an exchange), and posted it to other fandoms as their own work. This is completely unacceptable behavior. I wish the user could have been made to apologize to all of you, rather than just deleting their stories and running away. Because rule #007 of arashirabu should be rule #001 - it's the most important rule we have here.
That rule is Respect each other, please.
While that rule includes being kind and encouraging to others, it also means DO. NOT. STEAL. Plagiarism might not be as obvious a theft as shoplifting, or have the same fandom-wide consequences as sharing videos you did not sub, but it is just as serious as those acts for our community.
WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
I think most people understand that copying and pasting directly from another person's fic and inserting it into your own would be stealing. But did you know that this is also considered plagiarism?
Original: Sho was so happy to hear Nino say it he could have kissed the man on the mouth! So he did, slowly and with every ounce of passion he had.
Copy: Sho wanted to kiss Nino he was so happy to hear him say it! He kissed him with all the passion he had.
Those two sentences are not directly copied, but they say essentially the same thing. If you take someone's work and you treat it this way, you are stealing the words and ideas from another writer. It is no more acceptable than copy & paste would be.
WHAT IS NOT PLAGIARISM?
If you are inspired by your favorite movie or book and write a fanfiction with a similar plot - that is your own work. If you love the Harry Potter series and decide to write Arashi members in that world - that is your own work. As far as our fandom is concerned, we will not consider things of that nature as stealing. Fanfiction would not be possible if we weren't motivated by something that already exists. You are allowed to be inspired by things.
In a fandom like ours, two or more people might want to write about Ohmiya in Hawaii or Aiba and Sho on their HnA date in Chiba. That's not plagiarism. So please don't get too afraid to write something that's already been written.
All I ask is that you do your own honest writing, and don't take credit for anyone else's stories. If you do get caught plagiarizing you will be banned from this community. Those who have been requesting plagiarized stories - don't worry! No one's mad at you, you did not know. ♥
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in this post or send me a private message.
You can find out more about plagiarism here.
Thanks everyone!
Happy reading and writing. :)
- Your Mod
nicefinalbeam
Every now and then we get a request on our master request post for fics written by tsunderellasays, who was active in fandom for some time before deleting their journal and disappearing. What most people do not seem to know is that this person stole fiction.
What do I mean by this? The user took stories from other fandoms and changed the names of the characters to Arashi members, then pretended they were the one who had written the fics. Said user also took stories written by Arashi fans (one was even written for them in an exchange), and posted it to other fandoms as their own work. This is completely unacceptable behavior. I wish the user could have been made to apologize to all of you, rather than just deleting their stories and running away. Because rule #007 of arashirabu should be rule #001 - it's the most important rule we have here.
That rule is Respect each other, please.
While that rule includes being kind and encouraging to others, it also means DO. NOT. STEAL. Plagiarism might not be as obvious a theft as shoplifting, or have the same fandom-wide consequences as sharing videos you did not sub, but it is just as serious as those acts for our community.
WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
I think most people understand that copying and pasting directly from another person's fic and inserting it into your own would be stealing. But did you know that this is also considered plagiarism?
Original: Sho was so happy to hear Nino say it he could have kissed the man on the mouth! So he did, slowly and with every ounce of passion he had.
Copy: Sho wanted to kiss Nino he was so happy to hear him say it! He kissed him with all the passion he had.
Those two sentences are not directly copied, but they say essentially the same thing. If you take someone's work and you treat it this way, you are stealing the words and ideas from another writer. It is no more acceptable than copy & paste would be.
WHAT IS NOT PLAGIARISM?
If you are inspired by your favorite movie or book and write a fanfiction with a similar plot - that is your own work. If you love the Harry Potter series and decide to write Arashi members in that world - that is your own work. As far as our fandom is concerned, we will not consider things of that nature as stealing. Fanfiction would not be possible if we weren't motivated by something that already exists. You are allowed to be inspired by things.
In a fandom like ours, two or more people might want to write about Ohmiya in Hawaii or Aiba and Sho on their HnA date in Chiba. That's not plagiarism. So please don't get too afraid to write something that's already been written.
All I ask is that you do your own honest writing, and don't take credit for anyone else's stories. If you do get caught plagiarizing you will be banned from this community. Those who have been requesting plagiarized stories - don't worry! No one's mad at you, you did not know. ♥
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in this post or send me a private message.
You can find out more about plagiarism here.
Thanks everyone!
Happy reading and writing. :)
- Your Mod
nicefinalbeam