Monthly Archives: August 2010

Perhaps it is no longer reasonable to expect people to read 400 pages of anything? Perhaps richness can be added to a topic by being able to see a trail from the present comment, backwards, including all the things people … Continue reading →

Penguin has issued the following statement for its authors regarding copyright: As you know, the question of plagiarism and unfair use of other people’s copyrighted material has become a controversial issue in New Zealand publishing in recent years. There’ve been … Continue reading →

Penguin has issued the following statement for its authors regarding copyright:

As you know, the question of plagiarism and unfair use of other people’s copyrighted material has become a controversial issue in New Zealand publishing in recent years. There’ve been controversies in the media, and books have been withdrawn from sale. As your publisher, we ask you to take special care in this area.

The development of content in digital form over the years has made it very much easier to copy other people’s work and pass it off as your own. Google, for example, enables you to cut and paste from the world’s vast literary resources straight into your own work. If you do this in a sloppy way without following correct practice you might end up with pieces of other people’s copyrighted material sitting in your own book unacknowledged.

At the same time, of course, it is very much easier to detect the use of such plagiarised material by the use of that very same Google that may have caused the problem in the first place.

You should be very clear that it is your responsibility as the author of your work not to transgress other people’s copyright in any way and to deliver to your publisher a manuscript which is entirely your own work. If you do use other people’s material you must formally acknowledge it and seek permission for its use if necessary.

To read the full statement visit
Continue reading →

Welcome to Blogtown NZ. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!