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by derleth 4948 days ago
Is this why the most pro-IP people conflate copyright violation with plagiarism?

In my experience, pirates don't plagiarize. They simply don't do it. Attribution is always preserved.

However, I've heard many times on HN that piracy means stealing a work and not giving credit. They rattle on about how terrible it is to have people out there removing your name from your work.

I know plagiarism does happen, but I've never seen a plagiarized work on the Pirate Bay, or Usenet, or any of the other places where you can download copyrighted material for free.
1 comments
res0nat0r 4948 days ago
So content creators should be happy that their content is being distributed online for free against their will, just as long as the author attributition is still intact?
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icebraining 4948 days ago
No, but we have to accept it, much like the painter has to accept seeing the buyer of his painting burn it down. After you sell it, it's no longer yours.
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millstone 4948 days ago
Do you just accept GPL violations? Once you've given me the source code, it's no longer yours!
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icebraining 4948 days ago
I accept them just fine if it's by someone who rejects copyright of his own works. I don't accept if it's done by hypocrites.
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derleth 4948 days ago
> Do you just accept GPL violations?

It's hard to violate the GPL without plagiarizing.

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millstone 4948 days ago
I thought plagiarism was an issue of false attribution? If my product gives attribution to the original authors, but I do not release my source code, then I am in violation of the GPL, but I am not a plagiarist.
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derleth 4948 days ago
> I thought plagiarism was an issue of false attribution?

Yes, that's precisely what I've seen people get annoyed about when the issue of copyright violation comes up.

> If my product gives attribution to the original authors, but I do not release my source code, then I am in violation of the GPL, but I am not a plagiarist.

I thought the GPL allowed binary-only distribution as long as there was a link or similar in the program to somewhere the source was available, but apparently not.

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#UnchangedJustBinary

"The general rule is, if you distribute binaries, you must distribute the complete corresponding source code too. The exception for the case where you received a written offer for source code is quite limited."

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