Someone recently posted the following comment on my blog:
A friend mentioned it sounded familiar, so he Googled it. The results as you can see if you click are bizarre - it’s like it has come from some: “Top 10 Reader Comments to Cut and Paste” or something. It’s all over the web in only slight variations, mainly “Dubaians” substituted for something else.
Does anyone know the origins of this phrase/comment?
I know. It must originate somewhere, but I can’t yet find any references to it even being copied. It’s almost a phenomenon like “O RLY” or something, but I am at a loss to find anything except repeated instances of it.
I’ve been on Fark for a quite a while, and this cliche is odd in that it skyrocketed in popularity so quickly, but has managed to stay around. Usually, things get popular for about a week, then die. Somehow this zombie has managed to stay alive despite repeated attempts by several zombie hunters. I’m betting that if it’s use is continued, a filter will be instituted to remove it from our brains.
Not plagiarism, because they quote him (ie they’re not passing it off as their own writing). But possibly a breach of copyright, if they didn’t seek his permission first to quote such a substantial amount.
Hmm. Are we sure? I remember reading that thread; that was only like four months ago. Any way to determine if there are any earlier examples of it? Maybe the fark thing was a cutnpaste?
Part of the humor comes from changing the work title, like for example: “I work at Mc Donald’s” ending with a rude term to the target and an extra line like “Do you want fries with that?”
I’m 99-100% sure that the linked thread is the origin of that phrase. I don’t remember seeing it before that thread at all, and I’ve seen it many, many times since then. There also doesn’t seem to be any other explanations as to the origin of that quote.
Umm… no. If you read the article and the original, they post it just about verbatim. I’m sure that any of the academic dopers here would call that plagiarism. And they didn’t seek his permission, and I have not read of any payment having been paid.
I understand plagiarism to be passing someone else’s work off as your own.
Posting large amounts verbatim is copyright infringement.
Of course it is possible to do both in one fell swoop. But here (albeit without permission) they very clearly state where the material comes from. They are not claming they wrote it.