Plagiarism is the practice of (dishonestly) claiming or implying original authorship of material which one has not actually created, such as when a person incorporates material from someone else's work into his own work without attributing it.
If we go by the above definition of Plagiarism (Wikipedia), that would mean, each of us, on the Forum, who writes a Fan-Fiction, is Plagiarizing. Infact, the serial, Kasamh Se, itself is Plagiarized, because the Original source of inspiration is the Novel, "Too Much Too Soon" and I can bet my last penny, that Lady Kapoor has not bothered to acknowledge leave aside pay any royalty to Jaqueline Bisset for the Story!
Plagiarism is sometimes difficult to avoid in writing, because writers are not always consciously aware of the source of the wording, or the source of the idea.
Aren't we taking the Characters of Jai, Bani and many others and incorporating them in our story, without any thanks to Balaji Television, leave aside taking Permission from them? Most of the Fan-Fic story lines, dialogues, situations and scenes are taken directly or 'inspired' by the serial Kasamh Se. Why don't we terms that as Plagiarism? Or maybe that is 'Creative License' for some!😕
Without taking any names, I would just like to say, that it really hurts the collective sensibilities of a lot of people, when the winning entry of a recently organized, Fan-Fic Competition is termed as being 'Plagiarized' by another Fan-Fiction by some members on the Forum! By making such unfair accusations, not only is the Member who wrote the entry being unjustly treated, but all the members who voted for the entry and the Mods and Viewbees who oversaw the Competition are also being accused!
The Winning Entry was posted on the Forum for everyone to read for almost one month! Why is that now when it has won the maximum votes and being awarded the first place in the Competition, that some members are leading a Whisper Campaign and spreading rumors that the Entry has been plagiarized in bits and parts from another Fan-Fic on the Forum! How would the members who are accusing another member of copying and plagiarzing, feel, if we accuse them of Jealousy and envy? Not very nice, I am sure!
Instead of appreciation and thanks for the members who spent so much time and energy to write for the Fan-Fic Competition, some of the members have the gall to accuse them of lifting some other member's work, without any valid proof of the same!
Isn't it obvious that if we use common characters, situations and basic story line to write different Fan-Fictions, the stories are bound to overlap? How different can Jai and Bani be in different Fan-Fics? There are bound to be character similarities here and there! How on Earth can you label anyone of copying some other member's written material, when the Original Inspiration for all the writings are one and the same?
Everyone on the Forum is talented and a good writer in their own special way and everyone has a unique way of writing.....But if two people end up writing something similar, that doesn't automatically add up to labeling one person to be 'Creative' and the other to be a 'Plagiarist'! Its not as if all of us are writing a Thesis on Nuclear Physics, its only a Hindi Soap in the end, which is the source of our Inspiration!
Guys, if you understand what I am trying to say here, I would sincerely request the Members who are spreading unnecessary rumors to please stop maligning other members in such a demeaning way! If any of you strongly feel that a certain member is plagarising another member's written material, its advised that you take it up with one of the Moderator or Viewbee and not discuss it in the Forum!
Regards,
MT
Udne Ki Aasha
Anupamaa
Cricket
