Important notes on plagiarism

[seawise]

Important Notice
We will not pursue claims of plagiarism concerning commonly used, generic shapes - even if the shape represents a more elaborate concept. Such implications are potentially boundless and thus it would be unfair to uphold them. However, if some generic shape in your design has particular stylistic and/or contextual attributes, then the usual plagiarism rules will apply to those attributes. Generic shapes include circles, squares, letters, checkmarks, etc.

Introduction:
Plagiarism is a serious and unethical issue which will not be tolerated on this forum - and, indeed, should not be tolerated anywhere. Should the case arise that a deliberately plagiarized entry goes unnoticed in a contest and is eventually chosen as the winning design, the associated Design Team member assumes full responsibility for the act of plagiarism and any future reimbursement of the contest holder. More immediate consequences of in-contest plagiarism may include: deletion of the contest entry, a warning to the designer, suspension from the Design Team, or even banishment from the forum (either temporarily or permanently).

Due to the large gray area that exists within this issue, we've provided the following descriptions to help narrow the margins between plagiarism and inspiration.

1. Plagiarism defined
Theft of an existing design in any means is considered plagiarism. This design may be the actual logo, illustration, web template, clipart etc. of any individual or organization, or a design whose rights are claimed by someone else. This means that a designer should be careful to not to replicate an existing design which s/he has seen somewhere else -i.e. Google image search, logo/template databases or the portfolios of other designers.

It is of course not possible to screen all the designs in the world, yet it is obvious that a design which has NOT been plagiarized clearly has its own characteristics, although the idea may be similar.

2. Plagiarism during DC.net contests
Theft of the design ideas and elements of other designers DURING A CONTEST held in DC.net is also considered plagiarism and is subject to the same measures. This includes using the same idea, object(s), object combinations and/or in some cases color combinations that another designer previously has used, and which has not been specifically requested by the contest holder.

There may be cases in which some specific messages can be conveyed by ossified objects, such as using grapes for a wine company, and these are not considered plagiarism. Others, excluding these specific cases, certainly do.

3. The Boundaries of Plagiarism
The most difficult thing about inspiration is where to draw the line. Although many designers may have their own definitions of this boundary, we would like to outline the official DesignContest.net do-s and don’t-s concerning inspiration and plagiarism.

All designers may, without permission, adopt:

i. Any concepts brought up by a Contest Holder
ii. Any specific shapes/things suggested by the Contest Holder
iii. Shapes/things intrinsic to the company (e.g. cars for a car-dealership)
iv. Any unique idea(s) brought up in any way other than by designer submission

Only one designer may, without permission, adopt:

i. Any and all unique concepts created by that designer
ii. Any and all specific shapes/things used in his/her design
iii. Any and all combinations of things/objects created by that designer
iv. Specific positioning of shapes/objects within a design
v. Unique interpretations of an idea proposed by the Contest Holder

Note: Because the above rules are somewhat generic, there are bound to be cases where a design breaks one of the rules but retains its originality. In cases such as these, the best course of action would be to first contact the designer of the other entry, and then (if the designer is not a staff member) contact one of the DC moderators or administrators. That having been stated, such occurrences would be rare!

4. Ignorance/Negligence:
Negligence resulting in plagiarism will not be tolerated! It is in a designer’s best interest (and his/her responsibility) to know what ideas have already been proposed by other designers on the forum. If a designer has posted an idea that breaks any of the above guidelines, he/she will be responsible for removing it in a reasonable amount of time to avoid repercussions.

Conclusion:
Please keep these notes in mind when working on a design, so that neither the designer nor the other parties (design team members, contest holder and DC.net) are confronted with problems.

If you think an idea of yours has been plagiarized, please PM the moderators. Do not voice it in the forum thread!

Best of luck in the contests,
Seawise
Moderator
DesignContest.net

_Redrum
Administrator
DesignContest.net