I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work. Had I worked fifty, or ten, or even five years before, I would have failed. So it is with every new thing. Progress happens when all the factors that make for it are ready, and then it is inevitable. To teach that a comparatively few men are responsible for the greatest forward steps of mankind is the worst sort of nonsense.

Henry Ford

Nothing within this post is original.

All of this has been said before and all of this will be said again.

If you have concerns about plagiarism or abuse on steemit please find a quiet time to watch this. It’s 35 minutes long. Watch it to the end.

Part 1 of the above video tells the story of Led Zeppelin in the 60s being labelled “ripoffs” for copying a lot of material. They didn’t give credit but as the documentary suggests this is not unusual within the music industry.

Part 2 discusses movies and how “most box office hits rely heavily on existing material”.

Part 3 demonstrates Kill Bill as Hollywoods greatest “mash up” incorporating copied scenes and frames from so many different films I would be here all day listing them.

Part 4 discusses how we create new works through transformation of what already exists and making variations of currently existing ideas. It takes us through the history of copyright and patent laws and brings us to what we have today - Sample trolls, patent trolls and opportunistic litigation

Originals cost more to create than copies. Therefore originals cannot compete with the price of copies on the market. Hence the need for copyrights and patents. Copyrights cover media, patents cover inventions. “Both aimed to encourage the creation and proliferation of new ideas by providing a brief and limiting period of exclusivity, a period where no one else could copy your work. This gave creators a window in which to cover their investments and earn a profit. After that there work entered the public domain where it could spread far and wide and be freely built upon."

Copyright is the right to copy and publish a particular work. Copyright infringement is a criminal act based on the law created to give legal rights to the use and distribution of an original work to the creator. Copying, distributing or sharing of copyright works such as music, videos and digital copies of textbooks is considered copyright infringement, piracy, or illegal file sharing if permission was not given by the copyright owner.

Plagiarism is the act of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as their own. Plagiarism is not in itself a crime, but can constitute copyright infringement.

From the moment you create something you have copyright protection. However, different countries have different laws around how this “protection” works. There is no such thing as an international copyright law. Copyright duration varies from country to country. In recognition of the limitations of copyrights, many countries have their own individual "Fair Use Act". But there are 180 countries in agreement of the basic standards of the protection of copyrights around the world under the Berne Convention Treaty signed in 1886. In 1996, the The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and the WIPO Treaty were signed to include computer programs and databases and defined “intellectual property” as law.

The main goals of copyright are

• To encourage the development of culture, science and innovation
• To provide a financial benefit to copyright holders for their works
• To facilitate access to knowledge and entertainment for the public.

“The core belief was in the common good - what would benefit everyone.”

The core principles of steemit are

1. when posting, aim to contribute
2. upvote material that contributes value
3. only flag material that is abusive

“But over time the influence of the market transformed this principle beyond recognition. Influential thinkers proposed that ideas were a form of property. Loss aversion lead to intellectual property. Intellectual property swelled beyond its original scope with broader interpretations of existing laws, new legislation, new realms of coverage and alluring rewards.”

Over time the principles of steemit have become foggy. There are posts of accusatory nature. There are whales who upvote said posts. Flags have become a form of abuse instead of policing abuse.

The basic elements of Creativity

• Copy
• Transform
• Combine

These techniques - collecting material, combining and transforming - are the same ones you use at any level of creation. Our new ideas evolved from the old ones

THIS IS SOCIAL EVOLUTION

“The act of creation is surrounded by a fog of myths. Myths that creativity comes via inspiration, that original creations break the mould, that they are the products of geniuses and appear as quickly as electricity can heat a filament. But creativity isn’t magic. It happens by applying ordinary tools of thought to existing materials and the soil from which we grow our creations is something we scorn and misunderstand even though it gives us so much.”

The perceived abuse on steemit are subjective. Based on what we believe will cause users and potential investors to turn their backs on the platform. But fire doesn’t beat fire and the abuse that’s being policed is getting reflected back onto the community as another form of abuse. It’s becoming chaotic on the platform and people are (in my opinion understandably) confused about what it is they’re allowed to do here.

“Copying is how we learn. We can’t introduce anything new until we are fluent in the language of our domain. And we do that through emulation. [...] Nobody starts out original. We need copying to build a foundation of knowledge and understanding."

We learn not just from our mistakes, but also from the mistakes of others and from what we are warned of. Given the chance to witness what is considered abuse on the platform noobs can take some to find their respect for the platform. If they feel disrespected on arrival, why should we expect them to respect steemit? Nobody comes here with “online ettiquette” or certified steemit training. We need to allow some leeway for the platform abusers so that their initial experiences don’t scar their first impressions and they can build an understanding of our ecosystem and how it works.

“The interdependence of our creativity has been obscured by powerful cultural ideas. But technology is now exposing this connectedness. We’re struggling legally, ethically, and artistically to deal with these implications. Creation Requires Influence - everything we make is a remix of existing creations, our lives and the lives of others.”

Every post you upvote is unoriginal. Every post has uncited material. My posts didn’t cite the college university where I developed my understanding for cultural theories such as feminism and intercontextuality, nor the fitness trainers and training school from which I shared my education with you. Nor did I reference any of the people who coined the phrases and words I use.

“Our system of law doesn’t acknowledge the derivative nature of creativity. Instead, ideas are regarded as property, as unique and original lots with distinct boundaries. But ideas aren’t so tidy. They’re layered, they’re interwoven, they’re tangled. And when the system conflicts with reality the system starts to fail.”

Our current understanding of abuse is flawed. The reality is nothing is original and everything is subjectively a lie. As a community we are just at the beginning of a journey. Where that journey takes us is up to all of us. The current system of policing plagiarism as a means to combat abuse is self-contradictory. If our understanding of abuse is only projected onto the plagiarist and we refuse to see the reflection of abuse on ourselves then we run the risk of running burning steemit out.

"The belief in intellectual property has grown so dominant it’s pushed the original intent of copyrights and patents out of the public consciousness. [...] The Copyright Act of 1790 is entitled “An Act for the encouragement of Learning”. The Patent Act is to “Promote the progress of useful arts”. [...] The intent was to better the lives of everyone by incentivising creativity and producing a rich public domain - a shared pool of knowledge open to all. But exclusive rights themselves came to be considered the point so they were strengthened and expanded. The result hasn’t been more progress or more learning, it’s been more squabbling and more abuse.

Stop and pretend you’re an outsider for a moment. Clear your mind and memory of all the drama we’ve gone through over the past few weeks. When you come to the front page of steemit and see what’s trending, what is more likely to put you off…

• The sock puppet accusations?
• Questions for the purpose of entrapment when plagiarism couldn’t be proven?
• Harassment for verifications?
• The personal interactions turned to slander of “he said she said”?
• An article post about abortion written by a @msgivings you’ve never heard of?

Ladies and gentlemen, plagiarism is not your greatest enemy.

And policing plagiarism should not be at the cost of the platform as it has been.

Consider carefully what you consider abuse.

• Lies?
• Deception?
• Uncited material?
• Miscommunications?
• Plagiarism?

Any or all of these could be considered abuse. But before you take out your stone to throw it, consider another way to address the abuse. Because the constant stone throwing is the culprit that is putting a bad taste in the mouths of both newbies and oldies!

The only real abuse steemit advocates need to take care of right now is the witch hunting and the stone throwing!