Plagiarism
Don't use someone else's work in a manner that implies it's your own, don't copy verbatim any text from another source, don't excessively paraphrase, and, basically, don't be a ripoff. |
It's okay to take inspiration from all sorts of sources and even make deliberate (and sometimes blatant) nods to those sources, but any instance in which a section of text is copied from another source (such as copying someone else's character profile from another site, or a passage from a book, or other similar source) and used as if your own writing will not be tolerated.
Don't confuse this with the following acceptable practices:
- Taking some inspiration from something is not a bad thing. Certain themes and "feels" are inevitably going to be copied from other sources, especially in regard to character design, and this is normal, even in professional circles. The key is not letting borrowed themes dominate a character.
- Parody. We're going to make fun of things. This is inevitable and okay.
- Borrowing from certain older-than-dirt "boilerplate" character archetypes is also okay.
- Paraphrasing has its place so long as it isn't in excess (to the point where you're just rewriting someone else's material entirely).
The rule here is simple: Don't copy someone else's work and use it in a manner that implies it's your own work. If you're ever uncertain about whether or not something you intend to do is plagiarism, give credit to the source somewhere—At least it'll show that you're not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes.
