How Plagiarism Can End Steemit And What You Can Do About It

Recently, it has come to my attention that so far there are no objective solutions for instances of plagiarism in Steemit. Sourcing properly a piece found on the net, from a google search, becomes nearly impossible. Even if one sources material, the author might not allow content redistribution. In addition, as far as I noticed from a recent incident with a member, most people have no idea what referencing is.
 

Personally, I always reference my material except if they are old ones stored in my computer with no way to find them again on the net. It should also be noted that If one transforms a raw copyrighted visual material it can be considered their own. There have been various cases where the author changed an existing image and then went on with issuing their own copyright. Any addition to an existing material is considered more or less new intellectual property.

For example this guy took screenshots of instagram pictures with the comments underneath and sold them to instagram for 100.000 each in a gallery

There are also instances where people paid heavy penalties for just a raw picture in a blog. $8000 to be exact

Now Imagine what kind of crazy claims can come your way in 2, 3, 10 years from now when and if Steemit becomes an etablished social media platform.
 

Personal Take

If you take a look at my account most of the material are created from me. Whenever I use something raw such as an unedited picture I always reference underneath. Even if I transform the picture, whenever I am able, I also include a source just to acknowledge that the material is not mine. This I think is the most important part of referencing. Acknowledging that the work belongs to somebody else is the the best thing one can do for their own reputation here in Steemit and in case they end up in court. One cannot state ignorance if there is not even acknowledgment that the work they produced does not belong to them. That’s like stealing a car and then claiming that you found it in the street, by itself, with the keys on—and you just happen to take it for a ride.

Guaranteed Future Problems

A user that has neglected to reference a piece of work in the past might find themselves in trouble in the future if they are pursued legally. Let’s say user A writes a piece with a photo from National Geographic. The user doesn’t use any references to acknowledge that at least the material is not privately generated. The user also gets upvoted from a whale or founder. The transaction is then forever locked in the blockchain. Even if the author is anonymous, the founders are legally bound entities with their company being legally liable for defraud. Large amounts of money are exchanging hands generating value for the entire network. All parties using the platform areactively generating stolen rewards out of a post that has copyrighted material. Everyone is liable for copyright infringement and there is nothing practical to reverse it. Even the edit function is disabled so there is no way turning back.

 

Potential Solution

I believe there is a rather simple solution to this but it requires action from both the founders and the whales. Much like each post has a field for title, editor and tag there should be a separated entry field (with history) that imprints the copyright information. This will offer at least some legal protection. This field should have the option to be edited at any time in case a notice is received from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. @steemcleaners can incorporate their curation on this routine.

Whales and founders are also extra responsible since their voting power determines massively the success of a post. Whales should police each other out of sheer interest for their own benefit and the project itself. If a whale spots a copyrighted material, they should downvote it even if it has been upvoted from another whale. In this way they can at least claim that they did the best they could in case of a copyright lawsuit. Minions are adviced to do the same.

Final Thought

This is the first successful blockchain social media platform. If the project continues with the same pase it will attract attention. Some of it will be unwanted. There are tons of material already in Steemit from very reputable sources that are not properly copyrighted (including from whales themselves) that generate thousands every week. I urge the founders @dantheman and @ned to take action and address the copyright issue before it is too late for all of us. Also active whales like @smooth @berniesanders and @blocktrades are adviced to vote manually to avoid getting into trouble. This also ensures a better curation from their part.

I advice everyone, from whales to minions to never upvote anything that doesn’t have at least acknowledgment for their material since you might get in trouble in the future, lose your account or if you are a public entity to be prosecuted for fraud. The Blockchain is different from other social media since every single one's actions affects everybody else. It's like fucking and sharing the same condom with all your friends. In this case we are all shareholders in this platform and we all need to to contribute to avoid future trouble.

Steemit has a great potential but with great power comes great responsibility. There are no undo's in here. We control the future of Steemit. This is what decentralisation is all about.