#ended up getting accused of plagiarism bc some other person had the same idea as me

[teoparadise]

last year i had such a huge obsession with trey that i wrote my first name with his last name 100 times so i could marry him

[chainsawwrites]

                                 IS IT ACTUALLY COPIED??

Hey friends, I’ve noticed a lot of people seem unsure about what counts as copied or plagiarised in the RPC, particularly where things share canon source material. Similarly, I’ve noticed people feeling frustrated about being ‘called out’ for copying when really the only thing something shares is a common archetype. I’ve put together a guide here that I hope will help people make the distinction and deal with plagiarism when they do encounter it-- you can find all my advice under the read more!

STEP ONE: what’s the same?

This is probably the easiest step of the whole process, because you’ve probably already done it. Get out some sort of note-taking thing, preferably Google Docs or something else you can share easily should you want a second opinion, and go through the character blog/app/rp main page by page or post by post. Make note of everything that’s the same between theirs and yours. You can run it through something like a plagiarism checker  to find similarities, if you want.

The number one thing you’re looking for here is directly copied text. When you see this, take screenshots and keep them with your notes. This makes sure that if they deny and change the wording, you do have proof of what it was originally. You might also see things that are obviously copied but have a few words changed-- that belongs here too. 

Unique plot elements, specific rules, events, backstory elements, and the like should go here too, even if the wording isn’t the same. These are a little more tricky though-- keep in mind that there are coincidences in the world. The Secret History, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Foxhole Court, and The Raven Cycle all include academic settings where the main characters don’t live at home, abuse, and murder. These are not the same books, nor are they copied by any stretch of the mind. 

STEP TWO: what’s different?

This is important, whether or not it feels necessary. Like you did for what’s the same, take notes of what’s clearly not the same-- get an idea of how much of the content is actually original. Things that weren’t in what you think it was copied from, things that significantly expand upon a point that was similar, different wording, and the like. 

STEP THREE: what’s the extent?

At this point, you’ve got a good overview of both pieces of work as well as how the allegedly copied aspects hold up against other similar works. Now is the time to figure out how deep your problem goes.

You’ve already gone through the whole of the content and made a list of things that are significantly the same and things that are significantly different, so now make your best assessment on whether more is in the ‘same’ category or the ‘different’ category. This obviously doesn’t apply to things that have sections directly (word-for-word) lifted, but if more of a plot/character story/etc is different than the same you’re probably not gonna get anywhere with trying to convince people it’s copied.

STEP THREE: what’s common?

I feel like this is a good point to keep in mind that certain communities have norms and because of that things might look very similar-- for example, a lot of RP mains have very similar rules just because of how RP’s are generally run. Certain tropes are well established in writing, particularly within certain genres. A lot of fandoms in particular have “fanon” about certain characters, or things that aren’t strictly in the source material but make an appearance in a lot of fan works without being directly copied.

To get a sense of this, you might take the source material you think was copied and compare it to something in the same genre-- the rules of one RP group to the rules of a couple other similar RP groups, or a piece of writing to other works in the same genre, and so on. Does the allegedly copied material bear any more similarity to the alleged source material than the source material does to those other works?

STEP FOUR: how can you prove it?

This is probably the most important part-- if you can’t back up your claim, it’s almost certainly going to backfire on you if you go around accusing people of plagiarism. There are two main categories here:

Word for word copied: If significant chunks of your original work ended up in someone else’s original work, all you really need to show is what was copied and that yours went up before theirs did (& that yours was publicly visible, but we’re gonna assume that bc this is a blogging website).

Paraphrased copying: If only your concepts and ideas were taken, you’re going to need to prove the above plus that your ideas were unique and (lbr here) that the other person reasonably would have seen it. This is when you should add in receipts that the person you’re accusing saw your blog, was a member of your group, talked to you about the material, or so on. 

So now that we’ve made the distinction, remember that burden of proof is on the accuser. Under no circumstances should you be posting to the tags something along the lines of ‘x copied me, message me for receipts’.

STEP FOUR: how should you handle it?

You absolutely without a doubt should try to resolve the situation without going public. Take what you would have posted and show it to the person you’re alleging to have copied you, and tell them what the issue is and what you want them to do about it. Understand that they’re probably going to deny it or say they only ‘took inspiration’, because that’s what people tend to do. I strongly suggest you settle with just getting them to change the elements you want changed. Honestly, half or more of the blogs I’ve had this issue with have deleted or taken down the copied thing immediately without ever messaging me back-- which hey, problem solved. 

If the person you’re alleging to have copied you will not respond despite continuing to post (remember queues are a thing here), or won’t take down what you’re asking them to do, then going to the tags with your nifty callout post is an option. It’s a last resort though, so please really do think about whether it’s worth it and try to resolve it other ways. 

Your proof (all of your proof) should go where your accusation is, and should probably contain:

Original source, both in link and screenshot

Alleged copy, both in link and screenshot of what it was at the time of accusation

Connections between the original and the alleged copy (x was a member of y group before forming z group, for example)

Interaction between the person you’re accusing and the alleged source (liking posts, sending asks, etc., especially after or right before the alleged copy went up)

Proof of having attempted to resolve the situation before going public