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How Sakshi's Work Got Flicked, Got Published, and She Got Nothing
Sakshi Juneja
A usually quiet and relaxed Saturday morning in Sakshi's life shockingly turned out to be not so conventional after all.
Here is her story.
At around 12.30 in the afternoon, she received a mail from a friend. The content of the mail read as follows:
"Dear Sakshi,Kindly check out the content of the link. I'm foxed."
Sakshi did as she was asked to do. After all her 'friend' is one of the very few women whom she considers to be a perfect youth icon for the current generation.
What she saw, once the link blew up on her computer screen completely rocked her with that 'pissed off' feeling but it also thrilled her in a certain way.
Of late, Sakshi had been following her new-found hobby quite religiously. Anything and everything she would find interesting or of grave importance, she had to blog about it; day in-day out. Her best-friend had labeled her a 'blog-a-holic', something Sakshi completely denied but knew within that it was true to its very word. Blogging had opened a whole new world for her, a place where she could just be herself, think for herself, vent her emotions and thoughts.
Her personal blog had practically become a third home and it had taken quite a few months for her to get noticed and a make special place for herself in the virtual desi-neighbourhood.
Not a writer by any means, at times she would be applauded for her women-centric posts and at times ripped-apart by other bloggers for her feminist views or for not dressing up her words in a perfect manner.
A couple of months back, she had written a post, "Not so ordinary women" on the role women in today's journalism. It was very much inspired by the then famous sting operation, 'Duryodhana'. The central role in the success of that news item was a brave lady named 'Suhasini Raj'. Sakshi considered this post as one of her best pieces of work and something that was very much close to her heart.
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Peace Journal's shoddy job |
Holy-moly! Her work had been plagiarized for the very first time. Well, not technically. During her 10th grade exam, she had allowed the boy sitting on the opposite bench copy from her answer sheet.
Mr. Amitav had copied her work from the very first word to the very last - in short her entire post - but was creative enough to give it a different title. She was amused by the fact that her work was that good - to be plagiarized, but angry that the writer did not give her the credit she deserved. Plus she had never even thought of this happening to her, even in her wildest dreams - she previously believed it only happened with the top-notch bloggers.
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Who owns the copyright ? |
As of now, Sakshi has not contacted the said Mr. Amitav or Peace Journalism regarding the plagiarized issue, fearing that the concerned parties in all probability would try to erase their shoddy work from the virtual land.
Lastly, Sakshi has decided to invest the entire proceedings/award money gained from this copyright violation, in the improvement and creating further awareness of the desi blogoshpere.
And Yes! She would love to sue this f****'s ass for whatever its worth.
Thank you, Suhasini for bringing this to my attention.
UPDATE :
It seems our friend, Mr. Sabyasachi Amitav is a Pro-Plagiarizer. Below are (just) some of his handy-con jobs.
Write-Up 1 :
Original : "The rightist party that did nothing right" published in Deccan Herald.
Copycat : "2005 The Year of Embarassment For BJP", published in Peace Journalism.
Tip - Justene Adamec
Write-Up 2 :
Original : "StopRagging.org".
Copycat : "RAGGING AND SOCIETY" , published in IMC India.
Tip : Albert Krishna Ali and Mitesh
Kindly let me know, if you come across any more of his (not) original work.
UPDATE :
Public apology and aknowledgement by the editor Ms. Kamala of Peace Journalism, has been done.
Check it, here.
However, still awaiting for an appropriate apology from the main prick.
How Sakshi's Work Got Flicked, Got Published, and She Got Nothing
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bharati
URL
May 13, 2006
09:51 AM
Simple to get your worth
[IRRELEVANT HYPERBOLIC BALDERDASH]
Its as easy as ordering as pizza .
bevivek
URL
May 13, 2006
11:16 AM
Assuming the time stamp on your article is verifiably before his (er your) article, should be an easy enuff matter to snuff him out. Go get im girl.
temporal
URL
May 13, 2006
11:33 AM
is their a six figure advance mentioned anywhere;)
Justene
URL
May 13, 2006
12:13 PM
It is difficult to get a monetary award. Not only would they try to erase it, removal of infringing material is usually the remedy. Other things you may want to consider asking for -- they keep the article up with your byline, and an apology, or they publish future articles of yours.
I'd be interested to know why they did not catch it. DC doesn't have the resources to check every article but they look like they had those resources. A simple google search should have caught it.
You may want to check other articles by this author and see if other people are in the same boat as you. That would make an even more interesting tale.
Aaman
URL
May 13, 2006
12:19 PM
Desipundit reported on this article, until it was pointed out by our own Nandhu that it was plagiarized from here.
Of course, copying on a personal blog is different from copying for a professional publication
Go for it, girl!
Lakshmikanth
URL
May 13, 2006
12:40 PM
Ha! The world is not short of plagiarists anymore! And it is unfortunately another desi again.. when will we learn?
Plagiarism freaks me out... anywhere/anytime...
Go for it, girl!
May the Power of law Be with you (now i cant remember where i flicked that from :-)) I guess He-Man )
Sakshi
URL
May 13, 2006
01:26 PM
Thanks for the supportive response guys !
Just about to contact the concerned magazine. Lets see the what the outcome turns out to be.
Plus, its been brought to me notice that accused writer..has done this shoddy act before too.
So guess..its time that we teach him a lesson, the punjabi style. Chak De Phate !
Aaman
URL
May 13, 2006
04:33 PM
Desi bloggers are good at investigating blog scandals - find out more about this guy, folks
Amrita
URL
May 13, 2006
08:10 PM
wow - nail his ass, sakshi
Kush
URL
May 14, 2006
06:07 AM
"How Sakshi's Work Got Flicked, Got Published, and She Got Nothing"
or
"How Sakshi had been hired to Work Got Flicked, Got Published, and She Got Every thing"
What sakshi auntie want.. still mistrey!!!
1. Till the time no...
2. Till the time no support to .....
3. Till time no disclose of.....
( Edited- Not releated to the story)
You may have different opinion...
Huzaifa
URL
May 14, 2006
07:43 AM
Sakshi - and all you other bloggers - there is a great website for checking whether your articles have been copied or not.
Just go to www.copyscape.com and put your blog post address (permalink) in the search box. It searches the net for any similiar pages. In your case, peace journalism's article is the first match. ( The article has been removed, but you can view the cache. It also highlights the plagiarised parts.....so the entire page is highlighted !!)
Also, you dont have any License displayed on your blog. You should visit creativecommons.org and get a copyright license for your site. Right now, it isnt "explicitly" mentioned anywhere on your website that the articles are copyrighted to you.
...And if you are still seething for revenge, find Sabyasachi's email and sign him up for every spam mailing list you can find. A thousand daily mails from lonely men from Nigeria, who take viagra, sell car insurance, have won the lottery and are looking for a hot fun relationship will drive anyone insane. :-)
HAhaAHHA
May 14, 2006
02:30 PM
Dont leave this person..sue her..but i dont think u can win..anyway try ur best
DrPolitics
URL
May 14, 2006
11:40 PM
How Sakshi's Work Got Flicked, Got Published, and She Got Nothing....Sakshi:) you have it all,,, with,,, Digital Millennium Copyright Act.....
The best way to enforce Internet copyright is through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 is designed primarily to limit the liability of Internet service providers for acts of copyright infringement by customers who are using the providers' systems or networks. The DMCA was enacted both to preserve copyright enforcement on the Internet and to provide immunity to service providers from copyright infringement liability for passive, automatic actions in which a service provider's system engages through a technological process initiated by another without the knowledge of the service provider.
To protect your rights under the DMCA, you should write a DMCA letter to the infringing person's Internet Service Provider and the major search engines, such as google at http://www.google.com/dmca.html.
DrPolitics
URL
May 15, 2006
12:24 AM
Huzaifa:) Under the Berne copyright convention, which almost all major nations have signed, every creative work is copyrighted the moment it is fixed in tangible form. No notice is necessary, though it helps legal cases. No registration is necessary, though it's needed later to sue. The copyright lasts until 70 years after the author dies.
Ajay D'Souza
URL
May 15, 2006
02:11 AM
Have you tried writing to the Peace Tribunal?
Mayank 'Austen'
URL
May 15, 2006
04:36 AM
Sakshi, I want that ungentleman to get a punishment deserving his crime. But I hope you are not feeling that awful. Isn't there a satisfaction somewhere within you that your articles are so good and well-written that some people can actually take the risk of plagarising them? Congratulations. You have arrived.
Sakshi
URL
May 15, 2006
04:41 AM
Mayank - Ofcourse I am amused, positive fame can never harm anyone. But as the cake is incomplete with that special 'cherry' on the top...similarly whats the use of my work being used, without my stamp on it.
But on a serious note, this guy really needs to be given a heavy dose of verbal bashing. :)
deepti lamba
URL
May 15, 2006
05:00 AM
Saks, it happens all the time. I am so used to seeing my stories floating around on the net that i have stopped the witch hunt- example
my story- secrets of a darkened heart on some lame porn site....
Ajay D'Souza
URL
May 16, 2006
06:46 AM
Sakshi, only verbal bashing ;)
Arun
May 16, 2006
11:13 AM
Sakshi, do you see copying some articles for non-profit-making purposes the same way as for those earning out of your work? Sometimes I forward mails, ofcourse but I credit the original writer!
Deepti, did you really write that? Hmm, interesting! But I couldn't read it fully because of (fear of) people looking over my shoulder. You gave a direct link to a porn site! :P
Aaman
URL
May 16, 2006
11:35 AM
Yes, that should have had a nsfw disclaimer and the link to the original publication
Sujatha
URL
May 16, 2006
11:37 AM
Arun, what difference does it make whether plagiarism is for profit or not for profit? Most writers don't make the big bucks either. All they are looking for is recognition for the hard work that has gone into their writing.
The issue here is not whether the "flicker" or the "flickee" is making money off of the "flicking" but whether the person who did the research, the writing and the went into the trouble to get it published is getting due credit.
Sakshi
URL
May 16, 2006
12:30 PM
Arun - I dont get paid either.
deepti lamba
URL
May 16, 2006
01:43 PM
Arun, I did say a lame porn site, however it was non erotic and i was initially surprised to see my stories being filched but now have gotten used to.
Will be putting it up on DC
Rebel
May 17, 2006
01:31 PM
Tell me about it. It really is annoying when somebody allegedly steals our work of art. Insecurity drives these kind of people to steal. He may have earned something but he has lost respect for himself.
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