The Almighty Powers That Be

Arguing a bogus plagiarism infringement.

Here’s something interesting from when I was writing at Quora.  I was notified that one of my answers was collapsed because of a plagiarism infringement. The collapsed answer contained a poem that I had written some years before.

Wait a minute! I have never in my life plagiarized anything. I wrote the damn poem —me! No one else wrote it. How dare they (The Powers That Be) accuse me of plagiarizing something that I wrote in the first place?

Back when I belonged to several online poetry and writing groups, I shared my writing with other poets and writers. It was for critiquing and for the sheer enjoyment of sharing with other writers in the writing group.

When I tried to explain this to The Powers That Be, I was told a plagiarism infringement was final. No further discussion would be allowed. Period. The answer would remain collapsed … forever.

Just for shits and grins, I looked up plagiarize and plagiarism in the online dictionary. I wanted to be damn sure I knew what I was talking about. Here is what I found:

Plagiarize:

1.    To steal and pass off actual ideas or words of another as one's own: to use another's production without crediting the source.

Plagiarism:

1.    An act or instance of using or imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, by not crediting the actual author. A piece of writing or other work reflecting such unauthorized use or imitation of another’s writing.

Just as I thought. It is not considered plagiarism to reprint, or quote something you originally authored, no matter where or how many times it was printed before. If anything, it’s proof that you wrote it.

One last time: If YOU wrote it, YOU own it and YOU cannot be accused of plagiarism.

Oh and for anyone still wondering how it came out: I got my answer reinstated. I added a footnote to the answer with the poem. It said the poem was written by me and first published online on the Blah Blah website.

Poet/Writer/Author of 5 books.
Quora Top Writer 2018.
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