Okay, so I know many blogs here have been made about copying and such, but I'm going to touch on a few points that haven't been discussed.

What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is defined as the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own (thanks Google, for that definition). This includes taking an idea (such as information off of a website), not changing anything, and claiming it to be one's own idea and creation. If nothing is changed or no credit is given, it is plagiarism. As many of you know, plagiarism is not taken lightly and can result in serious consequences.

Can I use ideas for inspiration?
Yes, of course. We take inspiration from basically everything in our lives, without realizing it. Someone can (for example) watch an SFX makeup tutorial and get inspiration from that. If it inspires you, do NOT completely copy it without giving credit. If you do copy, it is your obligation to credit that person. You can take the idea and create something completely different and make it your own and that would not be copying.

What are some examples of plagiarism?
Let's have Bob here be our example.
Bob was researching for a history project, and found some useful information on a website. He copy and pasted exactly what it said, put it on his paper, and did not source it, thus claiming it to be his own. This is plagiarism. Bob took credit for someone else's work.

Another example, except this is a real example, and I'm not going to mention names, so let's use the name Barbara, and a fake company name, John Johnson.
Barbara is a somewhat well-known SFX makeup artist on YouTube. She did a tutorial for a look, and then was invited to do this look on a model for the company John Johnson. After Barbara found out that the company no longer could fly her in to do this makeup look on a model, the company decided to do the look anyway, using the exact steps and even jokes that were quite similar that she used in her tutorial. After they did this, they did not give Barbara any credit whatsoever for this look, thus making the company claim the look as "original" and their own. This was a huge deal as it was a super famous company, stealing off of a small SFX makeup artist on YouTube. Doing SFX makeup was how Barbara made money, and the company was making money as well off of the look that wasn't even theirs, and that had no proper credit given. This is plagiarism and this is unacceptable.


Plagiarism and copying is very prevelant on this site, whether it be a skin, a project, a texture pack, a mod, or even a blog. If you're going to copy something, GIVE CREDIT! It's not the diffficult. I hoenstly don't see why many out there don't feel the need to give credit where it is necessary, and as many of you know, this website does not tolerate plagiarism. Think before you post!