Forum Moderators: not2easy
If someone copies an article you wrote, in terms of the headings and major points, but rewrote the article, is it possible to charge the individual with plagirism?
I mean what are the chances of someone covering a topic in the same general way (order of points, headings, etc).
technically it seems its not a plagirized article, or can it be fought?
I believe it's still stealing...
(I'm no lawyer...)
...is it possible to charge the individual with plagirism?
It is possible to bring legal charges (on the basis that it's possible to bring charges against anything), but the point is, would you win - could the claim be upheld?
Would a court case be worth it? Would you bring the case as a point of principle, or a because the offending article was a source of annoyance?
The standard answer, to back up Terabytes, is, seek proper legal advice. There is no definitive answer - only a court case should you decide to pursue it. Sorry to not be more helpful.
Syzygy
It would be a lot tougher to prove copyright infringement (which is a crime), unless the text itself was obviously just rewritten, and not reordered at all.
Let's say your article says that 5 of 6 people do this or that. A lazy thief comes along and rewords your article. Here's the thing. He/she might not be able to back up the data in the article--especially if it's your own research. Even if it was a fact and the person found the source, if they presented it in the same way, you may have a case against them.
I don't want to get into it, but I've seen instances were having a similar opening (in concept) to another article of similar nature has led to legal problems.
Stealing content should be a criminal crime rather than a civil one. :D
