Plagiarised content
Today while reading blogs, I came across a blog post that was submitted for Colgate competition. I had opened it with great expectation and when I saw the post, I couldn't see beyond the red haze in front of my eyes. Why? Because this story is plagiarized from the famous story that is doing rounds on FB since last few months, if not a year. My question, how can a writer disrespect the intellect of his/her readers by posting such unethical stuff. Secondly, how did his story got accepted? Isn't there volunteers to check on these issues?
I know I might be breaking few rules here by posting the link of the story but I can't make my point without attaching it.
Indipolice: Please delete it if it's going against the rules.
Plagiarized crap:
http://dare-to-think-beyond-horizon.blogspot.in/2013/05/until-death-do-us-apart.html
Reason: Spelling error
See logically speaking, IB can't check every post while taking the submission from its members but while the contest is evaluted IB must be able to find the rotten tomatoes and throw them off. 
I shout out loudly: I hate heartless/brainless cut/copy/paste when it comes to creativity... always.... 
I think the member should be banned... I know, he/she can open a new account and register but this is least/maximum IB can do....
We can inform google about this plagarized material and blog... that's what we should enjoy right now 
And this post has got 16 votes....now what kind of bloggers we are to promote unethical posts? I think every blogger should mull this question seriously before they promote anything again in future.
We've already discussed the futility of this present promoting/voting system 
I know but I just can't over this asinine system of voting
@DS, the point is, the story is plagiarized. Do we really care to discuss how famous the story is? Or should we focus on the unethical practice that has been done? And plagiarism is unethcial, no matter how famous or infamous the original content is.
Many promote for promoting sake, that's all. reminded me of a plain "404 file not found " gotten lavish promotes.
@Rio, are you serious?
Pankti, now go and find that IndiVine post.
Yes, Rio is serious.
Not every one is one FB nor do all FB users read the posts or stories they just press their likes. Reading the blog post I too would have voted for it bcoz din know it was copied or whatever.
Yo, my dear friend Unknown had played this prank.
@DS, ok my bad. I misunderstood it.
These blogs should not be allowed to be in IB network.. Action is needed..
True that....strict action is needed, person should be blocked!!
"Dhoooondu just chill"............ to be honest I'm totally agreed with Pankti.....this crap post should be removed from the contest ASAP.....
Well, plagairized content has no right to be part of any contest. And the one who plagiarizes has no right left to write anything whatsoever. I think the 16 votes given were traded for a vote each. Why else will such a post land up with such a tally?
I even commented on that blog. The author seemed surprised :P I thought I should just let it go!
I can't believe that when the whole story is copied with sloppy tweaks..hard to believe, isn't it?
what can I say! the confidence of the author made me think if i was hallucinating!
but the moment i saw the heading of this thread, i knew it must be that very post that you are referring to!
I have tagged the admin. They shall take necessary action against the plagiarist.
Well the rules in the contest mention that voting on Indi will not count towards the contest and plagarism is bad but who will and can complain to the Google. A guy copied whole of my article including my name and posted it on net. One fine day I found out that he was ranked above me in the Google search. I was kinda pissed of and complained to google via DCMA and the fellow lost his blog.
Only a copyrighted owner can complain about plagarism, DS is right not everybody is member of FB and FB material itself is not self hosted(most of the content is shared and forwarded).
One one thing we can do is put some nasty comments in the blog so that the blogger feels a bit ashamed and maybe will not repeat in next time.
I think the drive was to spot the rule breakers and once its proven that said blog really broke rule then put that out of IB Network..
Happened to me once :P Although everything except my name was copied. A well wisher (who is still anonymous) pointed it out to me with a link.
I emailed the author- no replies. I emailed the admins of their blog and also the service which hosted the blog about the plagiarised content. It was finally taken down along with an apology mail from the author!
One can be inspired though and reword and present a post in his own manner, that is allowed methinks.
@Rio, if you reword an idea and express it in the way you think, it's not plagiarism..but the day you start lifting idea, sentence formation AND flow of the work, it DOES become plagiarized content...BTW, famous journalists and budding authors have lost their credibility through this practice. I don't remember the name of the author but there was this American author who used to write on psychological issues. He plagiarized his second book from his own first book. When everybody realized it, his books were removed from the shelves and all the contracts for furture book writing were taken back. I know about other such instances too.
There were a few other instances of plagiarism in Indi Contests. And also, there was one person whose plagiarized posts won several contests!
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Now, every time I see a huge post on Facebook ( when my friends are browsing their feed ) lifted from somewhere else without giving any credit, I just wonder how the poster could they do such a thing and the same applies for those who share those posts! 
Why was the issue not raised when the plagiarized content won the contents? I believe I'd have raised hell...How can anyone put up with such unethical practices?
Actually, people knew that the entry was a plagiarized one many days after the declaration of results. I wasn't there on Indi at that time. You can read about it here.
I got access denied. I thought I would have to go home and check it out 
My network department knows 
But i don't want to ask them, least they block this IB too 
The person inflicted had become a great friend of mine at indie itself, and still is. This person could have taken the prize on a blank post as only vote s mattered then. We had serious talks then on vote begging issues. He was grand vote getter. The way this was dealt, downed the position of indie. It was a flawed judgement and they oughta have banned silently, but the humiliation process was unwarranted.
Just my personal views.
Hi Guys,
I am the one whose post you all are talking about.I would want to say few things1. Seriously speaking I had no idea that such a story is making rounds on FB, it was something shared by a friend of mines and I was so much inspired from it that I thought of presenting it with my own emotions attached to it.2. I apologize for hurting the sentiments of fellow bloggers and my readers, it had whatsoever no intensions of doing so.3. Can you please provide me the link and name of the true author of this story, so that I can give him full credit.4. If you guys want I will remove the post right now. Also I have added the following lines on my post
"I was not aware that this story is making rounds on FB. Can you please provide me with the link and name of the true authorso that I can give credit to that person."
Morning Ankit..
It seems some bloggers feels that the post is very similar to something what they have read on FB, so lets wait till that FB page is found.. Secondly, I dont think you should remove the post yet as original story URL is still not found..
Fight is suppose to be against Plagiarised content, not against you or any individual..
Thank you for commenting and clearing your end also..
Presenting any story in your own words is not plagiarism. So chill if it is not copy paste.
Well I am surprised that the post won! Usually, in such contests, the judges run a plagiarism check before they let the post pass up to the next level of evaluation. But evidently, here that does not seem to be part of the agenda at all!
I think we need to see the bigger picture.
The blogger has apologized and is asking for direction to give due credit to the original author. Do we know who that is?
I don't think the blogger won anything as the contest is still ongoing if my understanding is right. Correct me if I am wrong.
@Sriram, I would be glad to be of help but this story is somewhere buried in FB stories... Sfurti (another IB member) is going to try to search for the original content. In the meantime, what should be the appropriate course of action only Indipolice can say...
@Ranjith, why didnt the orginal content owners file a DCMA against that guy Saurav and get his blog banned. He is still online and posting. I tried to check it for plagarism with checker but my net is too damn slow so couldnt get results. Maybe later.
I personally know this blogger and he knows very well the consequences of copying content. We have had discussions and also shared past stories of plagiarism and he knows the severity of plagiarizing.
Please find the true author and let him know about it and he will give credit for it. He is also putting it on his blog post that the post has been identified as copied content and leaving the post on his blog for direction.
Unlike in the past where many disputed, this blogger has accepted his error and is asking for help. Let us help him do the right thing.
As for past competitions, let us deal with that separately.
My question to all is, if there is genuine effort to improve and accept responsibility publicly, are we still going to victimize or guide?
Yep I believe what Sriram says is correct. If somebody gives an apology it should be accepted and the way forward is to disregard the entry for the contest.
@Sriram, this is not the case of victimizing anybody...this is the case of a blogger being responsible for his/her actions. It's good that the blogger has accepted his mistake and readers will definitely appreciate it. Now what he should do will be debatable, and so I am not saying anything over here.
In his place, I would have removed the whole post because the inspiration can go only to a certain limit. Being a professional writer/editor, we have a simple rule: no matter how damned impress we are, we cannot internalize those pieces in our writings. In my old publication, one of my colleagues was threatened to be sued by another journalist of international caliber over the plagiarism of couple of sentences (It was not even a para, let alone an entire piece). So I follow those damned stringent rules. But then, bloggers may not agree with me over here. So now this is up for discussion.
My point of view is...if the blogger knew about plaigiarism and knew that he is not presenting his own work, he should have given due credit to the author at first place....I even remember one comment on the post telling him about the FB post.....he knew it was not his original work and he knew the consequences of copying.....So he should face the consequence now!!!!
But thats what I think..
One thing is sure this topic made the blog a little bit popular noticed a high blip in the visitors graph just now
@Pankti we are not professional writers or editors but certainly we need your help and guidance in improving but we surely can use civil language and some patience in identifying responsibility.
I recommended not removing the post for the reason that leaving it on the blog with the acceptance can also help find the true author.
As for the contest, I think with that acceptance on the post, it gets barred from getting any prize. So that should not be an issue at all.
@Sriram, where did I use uncivilized language. Please point that out to me as I would really appreciate it. I might be bit harsh but I don't think I was uncivilized.
@ Sriram...If its not my original post...and I dont know who the author is..why should it remain on my blog?? Anyways its given the blog enough publicity and pagehits..
I do not think people have read the comments where Ankit has asked for links of similar stories.
@Sfurti this is a question of honour and responsibility. When Ankit accepted he has given all options. But until the investigation is completed, he is not tampering wth critical evidence in the blog post and comments.
That is what any investigation does and it gives IndiPolice the chance to solve the issue. Once resolved, it will be taken down.
As for traffic, that is momentary. If its high today then its momentary spike and Ankit is putting his reputation on the line too. Many may not accept his story, that too is a reality he has to deal with.
My 2 cents.
I read through the post. It clearly does not meet the blog-o-sphere's definition of plagiarism. It is highly plausible as he said he has heard the story somewhere and based on that tried to make his own story. People often write hare and tortoise story and such popular stories on their blog with just the intention of sharing. Since they make no money out of it, nothing wrong with it.
But definitely the post lacks originality and there is no value added contribution from the blogger except for Indianization and the pictures. So definitely not fit to be a contest winner. But it is upto the organizers to decide what they are looking for. So many organizers have so many arbitrary criteria. If they want to pick a cliched entry as winner, so be it. And with the blogger openly stating it is picked from a circulating FB post, organizers have full choice whether to choose him as winner or not.
This is a general post floating on FB like so many others and hence I doubt if we will ever find the original authors.
TF agree with you
Exactly my point TF. If we start screening posts like this, every other posts will be plagiarized. All ideas have been already written during last thousands of years. we need to use this word cautiously.
As far as winning is concerned, as you said we have no say on that. That's a totally organizer's decision.
Unless the facebook page is found, can we really hold the blogger guilty for anything ?? Specially when he came foward to explain him self and agrees to accept guilt if it is proved ??
Hunky, agree. We're talking in dark. We have not seen the original yet but one has been found guilty of copying it.
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