edu.science news

Papers in Commercial Plagiarism Database fair use?! (rant & information)

The spectre of Plagiarism is again spooking around in some minds. While it would be better to ensure that there is ample time and qualified personel for individual coaching of aspiring academics at hand, it is oh so much easier to just leave them out in the open and then use a plagiarism finder to shoot them down. What a victory for justitia and the academic spirit.

Some students tested the value of their intellectual property over commercial interests in a recent case. The court decision stated, that over the copyrightholder’s objections, commercial plagiarism software can archive texts for future reference under the US law’s “fair use” clause.

What an irony, when remixing music is not fair use, but the commercial exploitation of student papers without further compensation is (yes, I know, they are not published per se), just because they are not represented by politicians and lobbyists. When the digital copy has so much value that a whole industry is scared, it is only reasonable, that I can decide what to do with my electronic property. In this new economy, I might make money with my videos, pictures, blogs and yes, my great or awful papers. This is an important lession to be learned by students.

Don’t get me wrong. I am very much in favor of “open access”, “filesharing” and “fair use” as instruments for an egalitarian education or as a society model. But I don’t see how this benefits anyone except companies who profit from other’s free labor. And that is a problem if this “liberal approach” does not work two ways. Reciprocity rules.

I would enforce some rules for educators, too, when they use these services, de facto stating their general mistrust of the students they are entrusted with and should help to shape for an academic future. They are based upon a balance of mistrust democratically spread through a system to poison the important relation between teacher and student, just so there is any balance in the system if not any sense:

First, all papers of the educator in question are to be fed into the system. Second, the findings of the plagiarism test are to be published for anyone to see… ;) and then, you are allowed to use it on other persons.

Or for a more practical solution: If you have to use such software, give the students anonymous access to check their papers BEFORE turning them in. The system could then just send a receipt, that the paper XYZ has been checked and is not infected with the poisonous disease we know as plagiarism. In addition, the software must allow the copyright holder to decide, if he wants his paper stored or not. Send them both to your professor and a) you don`t have to discipline over-eager students, b) they learn something by re-submitting their work after a close call and c) the copyright holder himself has control over the system (deciding, if his paper should be stored or not). Voila. No punishment, but still a benefit. How about that for a change…?!