Wattpad Fantasy Writer's Advice

Copyright and Plagiarism

This chapter was inspired by someone who recently was falsely accused of plagiarism here on wattpad, for what was merely a story with similar ideas to someone else.

I have experienced this multiple times, both with Frost and Girl Apocalypse. People accusing me of "copying" and sometimes with books I've never read before. This brings me to the conclusion that many people simply don't understand what exactly plagiarism is, and what is copyright, and what isn't.

There's a saying that goes, "Take ideas from one author, it's stealing. Take ideas from many authors, it's research". Basically what that means is that there is nothing new under the sun, all ideas have been used at some point, in some way. You can use whatever ideas you want, as long as you don't take ALL your ideas from the same book.

For example, JK Rowling was sued years ago, by someone who wrote a book before she did, about a wizard school. There was even the word "muggle" in it! But the context for the word was different, and the school wasn't the same, and the plot line was different. So that person lost their court case. Did JK Rowling actually steal those ideas? No, of course not. The idea of a school of wizards isn't so outrageous that NOBODY could have thought of that before, and the word "Muggle" was merely an odd coincidence. 

In Girl Apocalypse, I have the idea of "death games", which is why people told me I was "copying" Hunger Games. But the idea of death games has been around forever, starting with the gladiators of ancient Rome. In fact, Suzanne Collins (author of the Hunger Games) was accused of "stealing" the idea from a book called "Battle Royal". Which is in fact ridiculous, since Ms. Collins never read the book before writing Hunger Games. Death games also make an appearance in several movies that came out before the Hunger Games ever did, including one I watched years ago about criminals who are abandoned on an island, and filmed while they battle to the death. People even make bets on who will survive, and have "sponsors" just like the Hunger Games.

On the flip side, I once came across what was almost an exact copy of "Frost" on wattpad. It had an "ice princess" who found out she was a jotun, a fire warrior trying to get her to join his side, and an ice warrior on the other, complete with battling kingdoms and an evil queen. Technically not plagiarism, but still WAY too much like Frost for my liking. Luckily, all I had to do was comment on that story (nothing more than, "wow, interesting story") and it was gone the next day. Could I have accused her of "copying" me? Maybe. In that case, it would be up to wattpad to decide if she'd copied ENOUGH of my story elements for them to take it down.

The Good News:

The good news is that you don't actually have to copyright your story. The minute you write down your story, it's automatically copyright. If you have it saved on your computer, or if it's on wattpad, it's copyright. In fact, when writers send their manuscripts to agents or publishers and mentioned they've copyrighted their work, agents and publishers take that as a sign of an amateur.

Copyright Applies to Pictures:

I see SO many people ripping pictures off of google for their wattpad covers. Would you like it if someone took your story and used it without your permission? No way, you'd be royally pissed. But nobody seems to care about photographers. But guess what, photographers are covered under the same copyright laws as us writers. If you take the picture without permission, they can come after you if they decide to. Last year a blogger was used by a photographer as "an example". The photographer took her to court and won.

Plagiarism IS Stealing:

The other side of the coin is that a lot of people don't seem to understand how serious plagiarism is. I had someone copy Threads word for word, and more recently, someone copied the first three chapters of Calling of Time. She took it down when I commented. She was very sorry. But I honestly don't think she had ANY idea how serious it was.

Plagiarism isn't like bumping into someone in a crowded room. It isn't a "mistake" or a small problem. It's SERIOUS.

I see people copy paste published books on here. Books from mainstream publishers. This is a terrible idea. The publisher or author can then go after you and sue you. You're a teenager, a minor? It doesn't matter. They'll take it out of your parent's hide. And if your parents can't pay, they'll take your house, or they'll wait until you're "grown up" and take it out of your wages for the rest of your life. Ignorance and age doesn't work as a free pass to plagiarism.

It's easy to think "that wouldn't happen to me" but all it takes is one person (like above mentioned photographer) or one company deciding they want to make an example of someone, and there goes your life down the drain.

To Sum Things Up:

 

Ideas aren't copyright. Don't worry about using similar ideas from stories you've read, as long as the REST of your story is different.

Plagiarism can land you in serious hot water.

You don't have to worry about copyrighting your story. Wattpad will be able to check when yours was published, or your computer will have saved the time and date to your story. You have all the proof you need right there.

Note: I can't post links here, but feel free to check out Maja's recent blog post about her experience (as mentioned at the beginning).