A Notice on Plagiarism: Advice, etc.

As some of you are already aware, we’ve recently had some problems with characters being stolen for other roleplay sites. Following is a brief (I hope x’D) explanation on how to find such theft, and what to do if you encounter it.

Keep in mind that by no means am I the be-all, end-all expert on internet plagiarism. Moreover, I’m not saying there’s a reason for everyone to panic. In fact, please don’t panic. Odds are that this sort of thing is relatively uncommon, especially if you're the sort of person who keeps their roleplaying low-key as far as site plots go. Several people have mentioned being worried, though, so I thought that some explanation and advice might be in order. Hopefully, this will calm some concerns, and perhaps even help anyone who finds that their writing has been stolen.

First of all, know that you have the law on your side in this matter. As explained by this website, “if a work in cyberspace is not marked as copyrighted, it is still copyrighted.” We don’t even need that little credit box on the side table to say “Posts and characters belong to their respective owners;” just by posting them, you’re already saying that and making it a crime for anyone to take your work. As long as you made the character or post in question, you’re completely within your rights to demand that plagiarizers return your writing.

Now. One way to check for plagiarism is to simply Google your character’s name. However, people may have taken the biography and changed the name, so the better thing to do is take a phrase from your biography that does not mention their name, put it in quotes, and Google that. (I’d suggest doing this once each with personality, history, and appearance, just in case they only took one or two sections.) Unfortunately, it’s much, much harder to catch people who took the idea but not the wording; if any of you have any ideas about how to search for that, feel free to post advice in this thread. It would be appreciated very greatly indeed.

If you find a person on some other site that has taken your character, do not fly off the handle. Please remember that one person can plagiarize without any of the other members having a clue. Staff members on this very site have been hoodwinked before; this kind of thing happens, and shouldn’t be taken out on the administrators. Also, remember that whenever you send out a PM to someone talking about characters on here, you’re representing this site. I know that sounds like the line that every single teacher you’ve ever had has probably fed you before school field trips, but it’s true. The calmer and more professionally the whole thing is handled, the better a reputation we get- and, perhaps more importantly, the better you will be received. Staff that have never met you before are more likely to take you seriously if you approach them in an organized, composed manner than if you run at them screaming.

They will also take your concerns more seriously if you provide evidence. Link to your bios, your posts, and whatever else you can think of that proves the character is yours. Posts that predate the thief’s are, of course, preferable. Also link to the page with the stolen bio, so that they know exactly who, what, and where the problem is.

Please alert a staff member if you find anything amiss; the person you contact on the other site might want to talk to us, and even if they don’t, keeping track of any problems thing would be helpful for our records.

If you happen to run across anything suspicious involving someone else's character, go to that person. Even if you're 1017% sure that you're looking at plagiarism, ask the known owner of the character to make sure. The last thing anyone needs is the mess that will result if you accuse someone of stealing, only to find out that the original owner and the "thief" were the same person all along.

If you find an issue but don’t feel comfortable approaching the staff on the site, feel free to message one of the staff members here asking for help. We’re here for you guys, and want to protect your rights as writers as well as people. As always and in everything, we’re behind you every step of the way, especially if you’ve been wronged.

As long as I’m on the subject of plagiarism, I’d like to take a moment to remind everyone of one more thing: I’m not aware of it being a problem, but there is a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for that sort of thing here. As per Article I of our site rules, any plagiarism discovered on Hunger Games: The RPG will result in an automatic ban. We expect anyone who knows about a theft case on here to report it, and will keep all reports anonymous.

Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to read this. Good luck!