Plagiarism is Fraud and the punishment is not worth it...Be Original, Think for Yourself!!!!

Source for image: www.sodahead.com

“…plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.” (plagiarism.org)

I wouldn’t knowingly plagiarize words or an idea, if I came up with the idea myself based on things that I have learned in the past, and along the way of life and education, then it is my idea.  What I fear is: Maybe I thought of a brilliant idea that was unique and all my own, only to remember at a later time that I did in fact get the idea from someone else, but I didn't remember.  

I have had issues with people stealing my ideas at work and I know how much it hurt and how angry I was, someone took the possibility of my ability to earn a raise because they took my idea, it's infuriating.  So knowing that, I would not want to plagiarize anything.   Even if a person wanted to plagiarize, these days, that is practically impossible because of all the on-line resources to prevent it.  I do have to admit; that in my earlier years, prior to having this in-depth knowledge about plagiarism, I have plagiarized, by using someone’s idea that I found on-line and re-worded it using my own words thinking that since it was my words, that it is magically mine, of course now I know that it is wrong and would never do that again.

There is an issue that I have with filing to “Patent” an idea or invention, maybe I need to look into the rules further because I don’t have the whole story? The way I understand it, when you file for a patent, your patent application and description becomes public information – then a “patent troll” can come along and steal your idea.  In any case, I think that people should get credit for anything that they do, invent, create and write. 

Here is a great website that explains plagiarism in detail:  http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism