Ok now that I am in college, all of my papers are now checked for any amoun t of plagiarism. Which brings me to FTE, since I already wrote a paper for my composition class, and I used the usernames for my sources, because I didn't have all of the real names.

I was just curious since everything that you post on here is technically your copyright, and if you are plagiarising someone, what the heck do you do. I mean now that we all have to be careful of what we say.

Personally I am not out there to sue someone of they repeat something I say, but you are technically commiting copyright infringement if you quote me and you accidentally erase the little "originally posted by:...: part.

I think that some people are taking the copyright laws too far.

 

you post, and release info into public domain with the act of posting.

I don't believe in copyright laws anyway, they don't benefit the consumer.

 

which is why the riaa should cease to exist, damned high power lobbyists and such....

 

I was accused of plagarism 3 times in college; each time the burden was left upon me to prove conclusively that my work was original, which I did handily because I kept track of my sources and documented them well.
Here's a hint: write your bibliography as a work-in-progress, so it's always current, and make photocopies of printed sources for records.
The problem I had was that the writing proficiency level of most of my fellow classmates in college was far below what it should have been, and mine was advanced (if I may toot my own horn), so my essays stuck out like a sore thumb. After awhile, I started feeling flattered by the accusations.

As far as music downloads and copyrights are concerned, the RIAA is only upset because they are so far behind the curve. If they had only thought of "Napster" we would be paying $3.00 a download and they would be making the money off of it. They failed to keep up. Then they say that it is taking a "huge cut" out of their record sales, but if you look closer, record sales have seen a steady climb over the last 5 years, so they are really quibbling over what amounts to peanuts.
BDV

 

Here's the deal with writing for college. First, go get a good writing handbook like The Bedford Handbook for Writers or SF Writer. It is valuable tool that sould be right next to your dictionary. They cover most of the writing topics you will encounter during your time in college and thereafter.

Remember if you aren't sure about something, put it in quotes and cite it. There are somethings that no matter how hard you try to put in your own words, end up sounding like the original. In that case, just quote the original and give the required citation.

Proper atrribution from internet sources can be tricky, so if you have any questions, see your compostion professor or the student writing center at your school. That way you'll do everything possible to avoid being accused of plagarism. Big_Daddy_Velvet is 100% correct about the burden of proof being on the student. You don't want to put yourself in that position. Also, if you ever find yourself in a group project writing assignment like a research or term paper, make sure that you review everyone's part of the paper. I just had an upper division course that required a group project and one of the members of the team submitted a part that was 100% cut and paste plagarism with no attribution given. Luckily, we reviewed the paper and caught it before it was turned in. If my group had submitted that part we all would have been accused of plagarism, and would have failed the course.

Good luck with your education. It sounds like you are already off to a good start.

 

Failing the course over some greedy professor is exactly what I am trying to avoid. I had to rewrite the paper using more traceable sources. It wasn't much of a problem since I can throw out a decent paper in a few hours. The trouble is, sometimes I can cite myself. Which usually isn't an issue but if I have to back myself up, its gonna be on this website, and well, I don't have a lot of luck finding stuff that I read and remembered a month or two ago.

 

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From:
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Something isn't put into the public domain unless you specify its public domain. You have implied copyright ownership without specifying it.

What you post, you own the copyright to. That's why FTE's legal disclaimer says that you grant FTE the right to license your posts:
<ul>By submitting Content you grant Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Inc. a royalty-free license to reproduce, archive, publish, modify, distribute and display Content. </ul>

Its pretty similar to the notices on most sites with user participation.

The compilation of the site content is FTE's copyright:
<ul>Compilations of content and services are Copyrighted 1997-2003 Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Inc., All International Rights Reserved.</ul>

So anyone should be able to take Stephen King's novels, print them and sell them without giving a dime to Stephen King? Our nation's copyright and patent laws were put in place by some very wise individuals very early on who knew that by protecting the works of individuals from piracy you are encouraging art, literature, invention and commerce.

Does your definition of "benefit" propably would be defined as "taking or copying without paying the author"? Sorry, but this is one area I'm very sensitive too because I've developed software (ie, wrote it) for a long time and I pay for software because I would expect the same from anyone using my code.

 

Ok well its late so if I am not getting something please let me know.

That legal notice said for "non-private" & "non-commercial" uses. Since all of our papers are stored in the Dorothy W. Quimby Public Library, of Unity Maine, which is on campus, does that mean I am able to use the information I gather from this website?

 

Copyright law allows you to quote portions of works without permission. Its the same thing that allows you to use the words "Ranger" or "F-150" in an article without getting permission from Ford. Its known as "fair use", and FTE's site falls under this category though fighting that point would be a losing financial battle!

Keep in mind that I'm not a lawyer, just stating what I've read over the years.

 

The majority of professors want you to succeed in your course work. Granted there is always one whose sole purpose in life is to make the time spent in their class as miserable as possible for their students. But thankfully, they are the exception, not the rule. "Greed" has nothing to do with it. Professors gain nothing by flunking a student. Also, professors must adhere to the academic honor code at your school. If the code states a mandatory "F" for a first offense, they have no leeway in what they can do. In my situation, it was a lazy student trying to do the least amount of work possible. That student thought nothing of putting the rest of us in jeopardy of failing. But that's OK, because we got her in the end. She failed to take into account "peer evaluations", and everyone in the group gave her a zero out of ten for that part of the project.

Don't let anyone tell you that Freshman Comp is an easy course. It isn't!! But the skills that you develop in that course will carry you far in life. At the very least, you're going be writing papers for the next couple of years, and you'll need those skills in your academic career.

Remembering what you've seen and where you've seen it can be difficult. Get some index cards, and when you're doing research, write everything down on the card. When you're putting your paper together, it is easier to find your sources and the information you'll need for the required citations.

Like I said before, you're off to a great start. College is tough. If you remember to play by the rules and use the skills you learn and develop in your first year, you'll be just fine.

 

Ok so if I post then anything I have said there now becomes FTE property and I can't legally use it again even though it was my creation?

 

No, the license does not say its our property. It says "By submitting Content you grant Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Inc. a royalty-free license to reproduce, archive, publish, modify, distribute and display Content."

You are granting us a license to use your post, not copyright ownership. We have copyright ownership of the compilation of content, in other words the forums as a group.

 

Copyright law is there to both protect the originator and facilitate the user of the work in question. When you create something it's automatically copyrighted. Officially registering it doesn't give you any more protection, it just makes it easier when you decided to legally defend your work.

Educational use comes under the "fair use" section of the copyright law. It allows you to use certain percentages of the work in question for educational purposes.

The new digital copyright laws are going to make things a lot less clear in the "fair use" area.

Digital sources also have thier own form for citations. It depends on which source your professor wants to use. When I was taking classes, I use mostly the MLA and APA. Make sure you know what your professor is expecting and meet those expectations. No matter how much you disagree with your professor, put up with their crap for the semester (although I have had open minded profs who relish some logical disagreements) and move on. Each professor will be setting up different hoops for you to jump through -- it's all part of the game.

 

I had to work in a group to write a paper once. It was far and away the worst experience I had in college. I got grouped in with 3 meathead jocks and one poor girl that could hardly write her own name. So when it came time to "peer evaluate", and I edited these guys' "work", I was forced to tell them that I would not attach my writing to their papers for fear of course failure. One guy threatened to beat me, another pushed me out of my chair. When I showed the professor their writing, she placed me in another group, and had the jockboys thrown out of her class for what amounted to "intimidation". This particular professor ended up saving me from one of the plagarism charges a year later when she backed me up on my work. She also told me that had I turned in my work attached to the other guys', she would also have accused me of plagarism.
It's a really sticky situation for English professors nowadays, because you can buy essays online and slap your name on them. Most now make you turn in portions of your essay as works-in-progress, along with bibliographies, to eliminate this problem.
Personally, I think high schools need to have much more rigorous standards for composition, because what I saw in college was absolutely shocking. There was kids writing in a junior high level, that couldn't, properly, place commas, and had no concept of what a run-on sentence was because they never had it taught to them and they just wrote and wrote and wrote and none of their teachers in high school ever took the time to point them out.
BDV