Plagiarism Pledge

Raise your right hand and repeat after me:

I __________ (your name) promise not to copy and paste text from the Internet to place on MyEC. I will only post my own writing. I understand that I do not learn any English when I copy and paste. I will follow the rules when quoting another writer by using the directions on EnglishClub's page. I also promise not to upload photos that I do not have permission to use.Instead, I will provide a link to photos that interest me online. I understand that the most interesting photos to my friends are the ones I take myself. I will provide titles and descriptions for these photos when I upload them to MyEC. If I need a photo that I do not have, I will choose a photo from a clipart site or free image gallery and provide a source. Finally, I will not upload music or videos unless I have permission to share these. After I take this pledge I will take a moment to look through my page and groups and remove any copyright protected content that I added in the past.

Please write your name in the comments after you take the pledge. You can also record the pledge and add it to your music player. Thank you for respecting the work of writers, artists, and photographers! Remember, the best way to learn is to use your own words.

*Note. The images in my posts are from a clipart gallery that I subscribe to. You can also try Creative Commons sections of Flickr and Stock Xng. If you have not paid for permission to use photos, make sure you provide a link to the photographer. Please ask me if you need more details.

Sorry if anyone missed the note at the bottom of the post. Some photos are available for use and those are fine to use. The problem arises when you go to a site (for example CNN) and copy and paste a photo and then present it as your own by uploading it to MyEC or using it in a blog post. MyEC could get shut down because of copyright issues. In addition, the Internet is growing wildly and we all need to learn the rules. This is not a rule that has come up just now. We have been reminding members not to copy or plagiarize since Day 1. In addition, the purpose of MyEC is to learn, teach, and practise English. If there is something you want to share you can always link to it.
Thanks for respecting the rules.
Tara

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Comments

Daniel May 25, 2013 0:28

Sure, I agree, I swear! It's very necessary we write with our own words. I know I can haven't wrote with my own words but I'm trying to get better this, for example, I always try to modify some words, building up my own thoughts, but there are certain things you can't modify too much the way something is written, because It would lost its sense. So, I will try to do the possible to avoid that next time!
Tara Benwell May 5, 2011 20:00

@Zuli Please don't use it unless you can be sure you have permission from the photographer or if it's in the public domain or creative commons. Thanks! You can try googling the keyword of the image. Maybe you'll find it again. Great question.
Zulkifli Alinazar May 5, 2011 19:00

When you have saved an image from the internet into your computer and you don't remember anymore from what page it was taken and on the other side you think it will be beneficial to show it to your members, what would to do then Tara ?
ERNA E ADRIL June 1, 2010 4:00

I really like My English Club, forever
because it's very helpfull for me as a teacher and I can expole my experience
here
ERNA E ADRIL June 1, 2010 3:58

I like My English Club forever, because it's
very helpful as a teacher and I can develop my competence of English
Tara Benwell May 10, 2010 13:50

Thank you all for taking the pledge. MyEC is becoming a much more creative space because of all of you!
Tara Benwell March 16, 2010 12:20

Hi Lynne,

A friendly debate. :) I truly appreciate your opinion here and I think a lot of people agree with you that the Internet should be a public domain. Unfortunately this issue is not up to anyone here at MyEC. This is the law. You cannot reproduce creative works by another person without permission. My goal as a teacher is to educate members about this and to inspire members to only upload or post their own content. This article may help: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html (the summary at the end is in easy English)
Thanks for keeping this conversation open.
Tara
Tara Benwell March 15, 2010 12:39

Sorry if anyone missed the note at the bottom of the post. Some photos are available for use and those are fine to use. The problem arises when you go to a site (for example CNN) and copy and paste a photo and then present it as your own by uploading it to MyEC or using it in a blog post. MyEC could get shut down because of copyright issues. In addition, the Internet is growing wildly and we all need to learn the rules. This is not a rule that has come up just now. We have been reminding members not to copy or plagiarize since Day 1. In addition, the purpose of MyEC is to learn, teach, and practise English. If there is something you want to share you can always link to it.
Thanks for respecting the rules.
Tara
Tara Benwell March 13, 2010 15:18

Great! Don't feel you need to copy the text above in the comments. Your name is fine. :) Glad so many of you are taking the pledge!
Nadiyah March 13, 2010 2:58

hello tara,
this's part of the protection of intellectual property rights. many countries which adopted this rule.

thanks for a great topic!

-Nadiyah-

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