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DavidDvorkin

(19,951 posts)
Mon Mar 25, 2013, 03:06 PM Mar 2013

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but plagiarism ain't

Someone sent me an e-mail alerting me to a blog post about vampires (http://vampires284.tumblr.com/genderandsexuality) that lifted a lot of text from my essay (http://www.dvorkin.com/essays/vampallure.htm) about vampires.

A link to my essay would have been nice. A polite request to use some of the text, with attribution, would have been even nicer. Unfortunately, I don't see any contact information on that blog or even a way to comment.

Hmph.

16 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but plagiarism ain't (Original Post) DavidDvorkin Mar 2013 OP
That happened to me once. A third party alerted me. mainer Mar 2013 #1
The lack of contact information or a way to post a comment DavidDvorkin Mar 2013 #2
This message was self-deleted by its author liberty16 Apr 2013 #3
In the side bar it lists "Content contributed by Cassie Whitt, Carolyn Menyes, Agnosticsherbet Apr 2013 #4
I guess they want to pontificate without feedback DavidDvorkin Apr 2013 #5
Comment Deletion Request CasseWhitt Jan 2015 #9
Cassie, thanks for the update DavidDvorkin Jan 2015 #10
Thanks! CasseWhitt Jan 2015 #11
You could try sending Agnosticsherbert a message via DU. DavidDvorkin Jan 2015 #12
Unfortunately... CasseWhitt Jan 2015 #14
I didn't know we had such a limit DavidDvorkin Jan 2015 #15
Welcome to DU gopiscrap Jan 2015 #13
Someone advised me to send a DMCA takedown notice to Tumblr DavidDvorkin Apr 2013 #6
The stupidest piece of plagiarism I have ever come across Fortinbras Armstrong Apr 2014 #7
Wow DavidDvorkin Apr 2014 #8
reply dylb2 Feb 2017 #16

mainer

(12,207 posts)
1. That happened to me once. A third party alerted me.
Mon Mar 25, 2013, 04:54 PM
Mar 2013

It turned out the plagiarist was just a college kid who didn't understand what plagiarism was, and thought it would be OK to lift entire paragraphs to write "her own" story. Once someone contacted her and explained that she'd committed plagiarism, she was very apologetic and immediately took down her story.

It sucks that there doesn't seem to be any way to contact the "author".


DavidDvorkin

(19,951 posts)
2. The lack of contact information or a way to post a comment
Mon Mar 25, 2013, 07:28 PM
Mar 2013

adds another whole layer of annoyance.

Response to DavidDvorkin (Original post)

Agnosticsherbet

(11,619 posts)
4. In the side bar it lists "Content contributed by Cassie Whitt, Carolyn Menyes,
Mon Apr 22, 2013, 07:48 PM
Apr 2013

Brigitte Smith, and Colin King.

It doesn't give anyway of contacting them. You might be able to search for them using their name and tumblr, but it would be difficult to know which one is which.

CasseWhitt

(3 posts)
9. Comment Deletion Request
Sun Jan 18, 2015, 09:39 AM
Jan 2015

Hello!

I am the Cassie Whitt in question here. It looks like the offending blog entry belonged to Colin King, and I'd like to politely ask that my name be removed from this comment or hat it be deleted now that the issue has been resolved (as noted below).

Unfortunately, this vampire blog was a group assignment from a college English class (hence the 284, which was its level number), and we were unaware that a partner we had been assigned at random had plagiarized. Now graduates, we also don't have the login for the blog anymore, so deleting it altogether is proving difficult.

Both my friend Carolyn Menyes and I are now professional journalists, and--to severely understate it--it does not bode well to have a thread about plagiarism listed among our search results. Haha!

Thank you!
Cassie

DavidDvorkin

(19,951 posts)
10. Cassie, thanks for the update
Sun Jan 18, 2015, 01:13 PM
Jan 2015

I'm sorry you got tarred with the same brush.

I hope Agnosticsherbert will see this, as well, and change the post with your name in it.

Deleting the original post that started this thread won't delete the responses to it, which include the one with your name.

CasseWhitt

(3 posts)
11. Thanks!
Sun Jan 18, 2015, 05:54 PM
Jan 2015

Thank you for noticing my reply! Fingers crossed that Agnosticsherbert is still around and willing to make that edit!

If not, at least my response is now available to anyone whose eyebrows may raise at this post.

I've contacted Tumblr to see if there is a way to remove the blog entirely. We will see!

I'm very sorry this happened to you. As a fellow writer (one who writes primarily for the web, where theft abounds), I know the frustration well.

CasseWhitt

(3 posts)
14. Unfortunately...
Mon Jan 19, 2015, 04:07 PM
Jan 2015

...because I just now started this account for the purpose of leaving my comment, I don't have enough posts to send messages, but thank you. Haha!

DavidDvorkin

(19,951 posts)
15. I didn't know we had such a limit
Mon Jan 19, 2015, 04:58 PM
Jan 2015

I've been here for so long, I've forgotten stuff like that.

Well, keep posting! It's a big board.

DavidDvorkin

(19,951 posts)
6. Someone advised me to send a DMCA takedown notice to Tumblr
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 11:42 PM
Apr 2013

Which I did, and they removed that blog post right away.

Well done!

Fortinbras Armstrong

(4,473 posts)
7. The stupidest piece of plagiarism I have ever come across
Tue Apr 15, 2014, 11:12 AM
Apr 2014

Was from a student who plagiarized a paper written by the professor to whom he submitted it.

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