Stealing Ideas–Are You Doing It without Knowing It?
ByProtecting your intellectual property is a big deal these days.
Master copywriter John Forde, whose email newsletter is always worth reading, wrote an article about plagiarism I’d like to share. While he’s speaking to copywriters (those who write persuasively, to sell), what he shares is very applicable to authors of content in general.
Take it away, John! (Oh, and let me add this: John said I could use this with his blessing, as long as I tell people to go on over to The Copywriter’s Roundtable to get $78 worth of free gifts. Which I’m happy to do!)
Warning: You Might Be a Copy Thief And Not Even Know It
by John Forde
“Good writers borrow.
Great writers steal.”
- Oscar Wilde… er… Mark Twain… uh
Are you a copy thief?
Forgive what sounds like an accusation … but there’s a chance you might be and not
even realize it.
See, A few years ago, I ran an article from a lawyer friend … and was blown away by the response.
Seemed then and it seems now that a lot of you guys wonder, just where is that line when it comes to what you can “borrow” for a piece of copy?
Well, I’ve just stumbled across a New York Times article on the same topic.
And it turns out, the way the digital age has evolved, the confusion over what’s legit to re-use in one’s writing may be more pressing than ever.
DO GREAT WRITERS REALLY “STEAL?”
To look at the quote above, you might think that if a literary like Oscar Wilde could get behind a little larceny, surely it’s not such a big deal … right?
Only, it turns out it wasn’t Oscar Wilde who said that. It was Mark Twain. Or so some say.
Of course others say it was H.L. Mencken. Or T.S. Elliot. Or a playwright named Philip Massinger.
Or maybe Picasso, who said it instead about art. Then again, some say that was Salvador Dali.
And then where’s what the “other” Twain-like American humorist, Josh Billings, once said: “The most originality any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment.”
Whoever said it, you’d think a tsunami of respectability like that gives you leeway.
But does it really?
Alas, no.
THE NEW CRIME: DIGITAL PILFERING
Let me be clear … I learned to write copy by imitation. And I steal copy from myself every time I come back and write again for products I’ve sold before.
What’s more, about every six months I come across something brilliant by another writer. And I study that so I can clear from — and yes — imitate that too.
I even jam my best copy with all kinds of stats, ideas, and whole quotes from people who found pieces of proof it would otherwise take me weeks or months to find on my own.
I don’t lose sleep over any of it. It’s all legit and ethically on the up and up. Not to mention, it’s made me a bundle over the years in royalties and fees.
So how do I get off warning you NOT to steal when you write? Here’s the thing. I also happen to think there’s a difference between knowing how to borrow and how to steal.
And borrowing is better.
Yet, as the New York Times article I told you about mentions, too many today get confused about where the lines get drawn.
Especially now, in the digital age.
COULD YOU BE CROSSING THE LINE TOO?
At one college, says the NY Times article — which focuses on plagiarism in schools — a student handed in a paper with colored text he had just cut-and-pasted from a web page.
When the teacher challenged it, the student thought “fixing” it meant only turning the purple text to black, so it would match the rest of his paper.
In another case, a student copied whole passages from Wikipedia. How could that be copyright-protected, he asked, if it’s written anonymously and collectively?
Isn’t the web, in fact, full of info that’s free? And doesn’t that also mean it’s free for the taking?
Yet again, not necessarily.
When I use outside sources, either for directly or for inspiration, here’s what I do …
- I read hundreds of articles and other sources for every promo I write. And I save the URLs of all of them. A recent 24-page promo, for instance, had 72 different links to online sources.
- My client has a legal team review all those links. Often, they make me dig up a few more. I grumble then go ahead and do it. Because it’s better that way.
- If it has a statistic in it, or a number of any kind, I source it to a URL. And mention the source in the body copy.
- The URLs only stay in for the legal copy. They come out of the sales piece. But the text attributions usually stay in, and that has the double-effect of making my copy proofs even more credible.
- Even if I’m getting info from offline articles, I try to find the same article online, just so I can have the URL to share with the legal team.
- When I find something great in an article that I’d like to use, or when I reference a source in the text, I drag the URL right into Word and drop it in at the end of the paragraph. No need to write footnotes.
- Direct quotes, of course, also get sourced — both with a URL and a text mention of the source.
- Same goes for charts. Even if you redraw them, write “Source: ” and name where you got the info,even if you do it in tiny fine print at the bottom.
- If I’m using a testimonial or a direct quote from anybody, I say where I got that too.
- Fake names for customers who give testimonials are okay, especially if you want to protect privacy. But keep a copy of the original letter or email on hand.
- You can’t paraphrase whole ideas or an ideas outline, by the way. Not without giving credit where it’s due. And even then, you can only use so much of the idea without stepping too far.
The bottom line is that you if you feel like you’re getting away without doing the work — there’s a chance you might be going to far.
Good writing starts with good thinking. And it’s thinking that plagiarists — accidental or intentional — don’t do.
P.S. In case you’re wondering, the original NY Times article is called, “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age.” It’s by Trip Gabriel and appeared in the August 1, 2010 issue. I swear.
(Thanks, John! You give helpful guidelines for anyone who wants to write and make sure they are doing so without violating anyone else’s intellectual property–which of course we would want others to do regarding our writing as well. The Golden Rule always applies.)
