Erm, help?

[loaded_march]

I've been recently contacted and informed that someone is writing a Merlin fanfic that is structurally similar to the Loaded March series and that there are some parts that were lifted directly from Loaded March itself.

The fanfic is posted as a series, though only a few chapters of the first part are available.  I skimmed through it, but as far as I can tell, the story itself is completely unlike Loaded March to begin with, the writing style is vastly different to mine, and I can't pick out anything specific that might have been lifted from Loaded March itself.

To be honest, I haven't looked at Loaded March since it was posted, so I'm not even sure if something would stand out to me right now.  I'm wondering if anyone knows of any plagiarism software that could do the checking for me?  Also, what would you do if you were in my shoes?

Comments

[narlth.livejournal.com]

You can try this: http://smallseotools.com/comparison-search/

Obviously if they've only posted a small amount it will be very hard to tell. If after you've checked you don't think it is then, maybe just leave it?
If they do start lifting things direct I'm sure someone else will let you know. :)

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

I tried that, and it does confirm some direct lifting, but I'm not sure if it's enough to be more than a coincidence.

(thanks for the link!)

[narlth.livejournal.com]

I ran them through (because I'm nosey) Considering they're actual sentences in some places, and judging by comments says it sounds like another fic. I think your best best is to leave a a comment asking them directly what they're doing.

[side-steppings.livejournal.com]

Just searching up a 'plagarism software' on google showed a few promising results for me.

I guess it's a difficult one, if there actually are direct copy/pastes of loaded march stuff then I'd definitely contact the person because that's obviously plagarism.

It's more difficult if it's just a similar plot structure though, it would depend how closely you thought it was to loaded march and if you were comfortable with that or not, I guess?

http://elearningindustry.com/top-10-free-plagiarism-detection-tools-for-teachers This page has some options for a plagarism checker :)

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link! I tried an online checker between websites. It flagged text that's in common, and there's some direct lifting of dialogue and text, but I'm not sure at what point you decide it's more than coincidence and plagiarism.

Not sure what to do at this point. *scratches chin*

[brunettepet.livejournal.com]

That sucks if it's really happened. http://stop-plagiarism.livejournal.com/ is a place to report plagiarism but it sounds like you need specifics to make an accusation. There are free online plagiarism checkers but I don't know how accurate they are. Good luck.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Oh! I didn't know about that blog, I will keep that in mind. There's a few specifics according to comparison checkers, but I'm not sure at what point you say it's more than just a coincidence.

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

If it were me, I'd try to check on it and keep my eye on the story. I wouldn't do anything about it unless there are parts directly copying Loaded March word for word. If that happened, contact the author and warn them to stop. Beyond that, I'm not sure.

Stacey

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Comparisons between the two story show some dialogue or the text is the same, but not a lot, so I'm not sure what to do now.

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

Not sure what you can do then. Since you said it was part of a series and it's not all posted yet, you could keep an eye on it and see if they've ripped anything off more blatantly.

Stacey

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that, too, actually. It's a good idea!

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

:) Hope you can get more definitive answers.

Stacey

[matchboximpala.livejournal.com]

I think you should share a link to the story. I've read all of LM pretty recently and could likely spot if there were suspicious similarities.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

I'm reluctant to send any traffic in their direction, but I do need another pair of eyes on top of the person's who alerted me about it, and I'd appreciate it if you could take a look:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/6286444?view_full_work=true

There's only two chapters, the genre is different (more canon AU than modern AU), and some of the characters are in vastly different roles. But other than that there are some similarities; I won't say which ones and let you be the judge.

Thank you!

[side-steppings.livejournal.com]

Just skimming it now I'd say it's a bit too close for comfort. The concept is different but there's stuff that's not quite directly lifted but I'd say much too similar to be coincidence.

I'd read a bit, think it was ok, and then come across a phrase/paragraph that was very similar, if not the same ...

If it were me I'd wait for maybe another couple of chapters ... the problem is contacting them because as its AO3 the only way to do it would be by commenting on the fic itself!

[side-steppings.livejournal.com]

And the author has read LM, or at least knows of it, its bookmarked on their ao3. Which makes you think ...

Idk, it's a difficult one!!!

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

You're right, concept is different, but a lot of it is awfully close (including structure), then exactly same dialogue or text. I'm thinking of waiting for a few more chapters. I did notice the LM being bookmarked on their AO3, and it made me suspicious too!

[jennydcf.livejournal.com]

I don't know about plagiarism of Loaded March, but there is wholesale plagiarism of the book Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: plot, structure, characters and all. Let's go to the videotape:

"After a year of slavery in the Salt Mines of Endovier, Celaena Sardothien was accustomed to being escorted everywhere in shackles and at sword-point. Most of the thousands of slaves in Endovier received similar treatment— though an extra half-dozen guards always walked Celaena to and from the mines. That was expected by Adarlan’s most notorious assassin. What she did not usually expect, however, was a hooded man in black at her side— as there was now. He gripped her arm as he led her through the shining building in which most of Endovier’s officials and overseers were housed. They strode down corridors, up flights of stairs, and around and around until she hadn’t the slightest chance of finding her way out again. At least, that was her escort’s intention, because she hadn’t failed to notice when they went up and down the same staircase within a matter of minutes. Nor had she missed when they zigzagged between levels, even though the building was a standard grid of hallways and stairwells. As if she’d lose her bearings that easily. She might have been insulted if he wasn’t trying so hard."

Maas, Sarah J. (2012-08-07). Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass series Book 1) (pp. 1-2). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

[jennydcf.livejournal.com]

I should add that I have reported this particular plagiarism to the Abuse Team. I'm not sure what their position is re copying of an unrelated, published source with only the names (and the sex of the Merlin character) changed, but I felt they should know.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Thank you for doing that! If you wouldn't mind, I'd be interested in their response. I may contact them as well, shortly, because there are more than a few passages that look to be lifted from LM.

[jennydcf.livejournal.com]

They assured me that what I reported would indeed count as plagiarism and violate their TOS and that they would remove the story if they agreed--ONCE I GAVE THEM TITLE, AUTHOR, AND URL. *headdesk* So I've done that. Will let you know when I hear more.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[jennydcf.livejournal.com]

Here's what AO3 wrote to me:

"We investigated the work and found that it did indeed plagiarise ‘Throne of Glass’. Before we could contact the user they deleted the work from the Archive. We hope this alleviates your concerns. If you have any further questions or if the work is re-uploaded don’t hesitate to reply to this email."

Frankly, it doesn't really alleviate my concerns. The author hasn't been told that she violated the TOS, let alone faced any kind of sanction for doing so. Her deleting the story indicates that she knew that she was in trouble, but not that she was sorry or that she wouldn't do it again. And there is some evidence that she has done it before and it's been pointed out to her before. I will be replying.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Doesn't alleviate mine either, and the timeline of all this happening is a bit suspicious, but I will post more on this shortly. Thank you so much for doing all that you did!

[elirwen.livejournal.com]

I looked at the comments for another work of the author and right on the first page one comment said "I hate to say it but this story is frighteningly similar to Wand and Shield, another HP and Avengers crossover." And there was no reply to that from the author.

I'm not against getting inspiration from other people's fics. I'm pretty sure we all do that some way or another. But if it's on a huge scale like this, it should be at least mentioned in notes somewhere.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

!! So they've got a track record? Wow. I should look for that comment.

I'm the same way. I have no objections to inspiration, because where would we be without inspiration. But following the story structure almost exactly (starting with a fight and a lot of yelling, for example) and directly lifting dialogue from another text? I don't know, man. It's a fine line between fanfiction (because who hasn't lifted dialogue from the show?) and plagiarism and I'm not sure I'm best qualified to know where it is.

[elirwen.livejournal.com]

yeah, if there's actually dialogue lifted from your work, it's totally not okay. It would be okay only if it was a fanfiction of your fanfiction. :D But it's obviously not because it's not mentioned anywhere.

And if they're deleting negative comments, as the comments below say, there's no reason to play nice. Reporting is totally an okay thing to do.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

After doing a comparison check, they're lifting and rewriting entire passages from two parts of Loaded March, though some of the text remains the same.

*sigh*

[elirwen.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that's horrible. I don't understand how can anyone get any joy from getting so many nice comments for something they didn't really write.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Neither can I, but I was raised on Catholic guilt, so I'm predisposed to that, heh.

[velithya]

I've read the comments above me on this post, so it definitely sounds like it's been confirmed that they're lifting bits and pieces from your story. It might only be here and there but it's definitely still plagiarism. If it were me in that situation I would contact them. Also maybe AO3 has a report mechanism for this kind of thing? If so might be worth reporting it to them also.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

I will be contacting them soon. And jayfray18 confirms that AO3 has a report mechanism for plagiarism so I can at least start doing that!

[jayfray18.livejournal.com]

AO3 has a reporting plagiarism option under report abuse at the bottom of the main page, if you're concerned. I'd possibly be tempted to see what the next chapter is like, to see if it's a coincidence or not. But as the negative comments have been removed, it probably isn't coincidental.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that! Thank you! I am kind of waiting on the next chapter. Also, negative comments were removed?? I didn't know that.

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry my mistake, comments saying it was like another story were on the other fic the author has written, not the Merlin one.

[jayfray18.livejournal.com]

Anon comment is mine, lj logged me out for some reason.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Hi! Yeah, LJ is logging me out randomly too, for no reason. Turns out that this fic also resembles a different fic as well, which, well. Wow. It boggles my mind.

[jayfray18.livejournal.com]

I've been inspired by other writers, but would never dream of using whole passages from their writing. It really goes beggar belief.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

I get inspired by everything under the sun, but I'd never lift entire passages or scenes, either. Just thinking about it makes me feel gross and wrong.

[matchboximpala.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure at first because the stories are so different in tone -- but whoa! Look at the end of chapter 2 of the story:
"Merlin!"

The assassin turned, “Yeah?”

Arthur held up the sword. "You dropped this."

“But that's not - What? Oh!" Merlin's expression changed from confusion to realisation in an eye-blink, and his answering smile was as bright as the stars overhead.

Shit, Arthur thought as his breath caught in his chest and hurt, that goddamn smile steadily shredding through his self-control. He was in such deep, unending shit.

Now look at the end of Radioman:

"Merlin!"

"Yeah?"

Arthur held up the swath of red cloth. "You dropped this."

"That's not -- What? Oh!" Merlin's expression changed from confusion to realization to delight in an eyeblink, and his smile was as bright as the desert sun.

Shite, Arthur thought. He keeps smiling like that, I'm in trouble.

----------

I left a comment about this.
That is not a coincidence.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Crap, yeah, that's pretty obvious. Did they reply?

[jennydcf.livejournal.com]

She says she sent you an apology and changed the passage as of 12:02 pm, BST. The passage has been added to, and the sword being thrown is separated from Merlin's smile and Arthur's thought about it. But the story of the battle with the sorcerers who threw fireballs and "magic missiles" and Merlin's rescue of Owain from such an explosion struck me as awfully familiar and is still there, as are several more similarities.

In the comments more than one person notes the strong "resemblance" to the book Throne of Glass, which I described in my comments above.

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

I haven't received any sort of apology in any of the ways people can reach me, so that's dubious. Also, even the change doesn't really change anything.

Interesting about Throne of Glass -- which I haven't read.

[kuro-chin.livejournal.com]

My further input was most likely not needed (I apologise if you'd rather I hadn't), but I left a comment about a few more scenes that were also quite obviously taken from either Radioman or War Games.

(The thread in its entirety: http://archiveofourown.org/comments/56763403)

There are a few more scenes / conversations I could swear are also in Loaded March, but I can't for the life of me remember the exact parts.

She has changed some sentences around, rephrased a few things, modified the scenes to fit a new context, but otherwise... the scenes might as well have been copypasted.

Looking at the number (and length) of identical scenes, I'd say this is a pretty clear example of plagiarism.

[kuro-chin.livejournal.com]

Hm, nevermind -- my comment was deleted!

[loaded-march.livejournal.com]

Wow, what lovely behaviour on their part. Thank you for trying!