PMs and Plagiarism

[Dugym]

Can moderators see PMs?


Also, a copyright question. If I collaborate with a roleplay on someone, who gets the copyright for the roleplay? Do we both have rights to it, or do we have rights to our own contributions in the collaboration (what this means is, if I came up with a certain plot element, since it was my contribution, only I would have the rights to it)? Also, if I take on a roleplay from a retired GM, who gets the copyright? Is it the old GM, the new GM, or do we have rights to our own contributions to the roleplay?

 

[Chordling]

To answer your PM question, contents within messages which are reported automatically give staff the ability to view the entire conversation.  Otherwise, we are unable to see user messages.

 

[The Mechanist]

Copy right on a roleplay when utilizing a source is complex. Intellectual propert might play into effect what your asking

 

[Kaerri]

This being the internet, I don't believe you have any legal copyrights to anything that hasn't been published offline or through an actual publisher.


Morally speaking, and as far as RpN goes, if you look at the bottom of our rules page it describes how the RpN Staff view it.  Generally, RPs belong to the GM/Storyteller and characters belong to the players.  For a situation such as you describe, we would probably say the RP belonged first to the original GM, and (assuming it was willingly handed over), what happens after the GM-changeover belongs to the later GM.

 

[Dugym]

This being the internet, I don't believe you have any legal copyrights to anything that hasn't been published offline or through an actual publisher.

I believe @Ghost said that?


"Regarding the copyright thing, we do not allow plagiarism of other people's work already, so I don't think you have to worry about that. if anyone steals any of your rps or anything, you should report it."


That didn't explicitly say "copyright" but in effect it sounds like it.

 

[Chordling]

It's still not safe to say that your work legally belongs to you.  If your creative content is stolen within the site, the staff team will do everything they can to act upon it.  But this being a public forum, there's nothing we can do to prevent someone outside of the site from writing their own book about a character you shared on RpNation.

 

[Kaerri]

I believe @Ghost said that?


"Regarding the copyright thing, we do not allow plagiarism of other people's work already, so I don't think you have to worry about that. if anyone steals any of your rps or anything, you should report it."


That didn't explicitly say "copyright" but in effect it sounds like it.

As @Musician points out, there is a difference between legal copyrights and within-the-site plagiarism.  We do what we can to stop plagiarism within the site, but that doesn't mean you own the rights to it legally, which is what a copyright is.

 

[kibou]

I believe @Ghost said that?


"Regarding the copyright thing, we do not allow plagiarism of other people's work already, so I don't think you have to worry about that. if anyone steals any of your rps or anything, you should report it."


That didn't explicitly say "copyright" but in effect it sounds like it.

Yeah, like kaerri and muse said, it doesnt imply legal copyright. Just that if someone steals your ideas on-site and doesnt make any major changes, we dont allow that and you should report it.


Frabkly if you plan to publish anything you shouldn't be posting it on any website. It'll complicate things legally, and I think publishers will be a lot less willing to publish it.

 

[Dugym]

It's still not safe to say that your work legally belongs to you.  If your creative content is stolen within the site, the staff team will do everything they can to act upon it.  But this being a public forum, there's nothing we can do to prevent someone outside of the site from writing their own book about a character you shared on RpNation.

As @Musician points out, there is a difference between legal copyrights and within-the-site plagiarism.  We do what we can to stop plagiarism within the site, but that doesn't mean you own the rights to it legally, which is what a copyright is.

Yeah, like kaerri and muse said, it doesnt imply legal copyright. Just that if someone steals your ideas on-site and doesnt make any major changes, we dont allow that and you should report it.

Okay. I took some measures in some of my HPRPs by hiding the content from non-members, which should stop off-site plagiarism.

Frankly if you plan to publish anything you shouldn't be posting it on any website. It'll complicate things legally, and I think publishers will be a lot less willing to publish it.

Depends on if the publishers know where it's from. But yeah, that's good advice.

 

[Dugym]

Are fandoms on any roleplay site considered plagiarism?

 

[cupidcreep]

no, you are not taking credit for the work of the author/creator  

 

[call me rae]

No. plagarism is when you claim another's work as your own. 


Roleplays done in fandom are done with the understanding that they are merely people borrowing the characters to tell their own versions of plot lines. It's no different than fanfiction.


Plagarism comes into play when you create a roleplay ( any roleplay ) and someone copy and paste's it to their own thread. That is plagarism.


The same way that if someone was on here saying they created Harry Potter that would be plagarism. As obviously JK Rowling has better things to do with her time than join a roleplay site.

 

[Dugym]

no, you are not taking credit for the work of the author/creator  

Good to know @Sunkissed. In some countries, it's plagiarism even if you give credit. I know this is based in an English-speaking country (speaking of which, which one?).

 

[Count Gensokyo]

TLR No, plagiarism police don't apply.


@Riuma

 

[cupidcreep]

Good to know @Sunkissed. In some countries, it's plagiarism even if you give credit. I know this is based in an English-speaking country (speaking of which, which one?).

america

 

[Dugym]

america

Yeah, I was thinking that but I wasn't for certain.

 

[Chordling]

Hello @Riuma,


I have merged your questions threads to prevent forum flooding.


Happy roleplaying!

 

[ChoShadow]

Copyright laws apply to "published" work. So long as your work remains here on the site and is not published or produced in any physical or digital format meant to bring a profit or personal recognition, you are not in violation of copyright laws.