“Plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward” (https://libguides.usna.edu/c.php?g=410493&p=2795742, 2017). So why is it stealing? Words have value. When you take something of value from someone else, it is stealing. There have been many cases in the music industry where similar wording or notes played in the same way as another have seen their day in court. We all use words to bolster our egos, increase our income, or settle a score. Taking another comedian’s joke is like taking money out of the poor person’s mouth (that’s a joke, because stereotypically, we know comedians are poor). I think the consequences should vary depending on the severity of the plagiarism. If someone plagiarizes by accident, I think the plagiarizer should be willing to revise their plagiarized verbiage to give credit where it should have been given and that should be the extent of it. It was an innocent action, based on the assumption that it was done “by accident.” If there were any damages to the unquoted, they should be paid to the original content creator. If the plagiarism was committed intentionally, damages should also be paid to the original creator with an increased modifier commensurate with the severity of the damages or loss suffered by the creator.
I have had the understanding since high school that a creator should get their due credit. As an owner of multiple income earning YouTube channels, I can appreciate the value of an idea. If I find that there is common knowledge in my area of study, I will not need to give credit to anyone; however, if there is a source that takes common knowledge and puts a ‘twist’ on the information in a creative way, it is no longer, to me, a common knowledge item. Instead it becomes a creative mixed use of language that the author should be credited for. For instance, it is common knowledge that humans need to eat to survive. If I propose a specific diet, I would need to give credit to the diet “creator” for their creative outlet/efforts. I plan on maintaining intellectual honesty and integrity by citing my sources according to accepted methods.
(This was an assignment I wrote for a college class, but I felt it had relevance here, too.)
https://unsplash.com/photos/CGSFeqa3kG0, Creative Commons
