Apparently some people find it easier to copy-paste text from other sources, including Wikipedia or the creator's original site, instead of coming up with their own text.
However, this could get the website in a ton of legal trouble for plagiarism and/or copyright violations. (Not to mention it's lazy writing to boot.) Since stopping that problem is a very high priority, and I've observed multiple cases of this problem as of late, let's give this its own dedicated clean-up thread. If you see any work, character, or recap descriptions that copy another source word-for-word, bring them up here if you're not sure how to immediately fix them.
Moderator notice: If you cannot immediately rewrite plagiarized text, remove it and put in a placeholder note. A sample follows:
[This description was copied in violation of our [[Administrivia/AboutImagesAndCopyright Plagiarism]] policy. Please replace it with original writing.]
Below is a list of currently known pages that suffer from this problem, and the source they copy from. (This list can be updated by mods or by me, Totemic Hero.) The ideal goal is to have these pages fixed within a week or two of finding out about the copy-paste. If we can't manage to come up with a fix in that time frame, then we'll probably have to outright Cut List said pages, because the site can't risk legal issues.
Currently known pages with copied text
Characters.Overwatch - Character descriptions partially copied from Blizzard's official siteRecap.American Horror Story - Recap descriptions mostly copied from the show's wiki
Recap.Charmed - A number of recap descriptions are copied from the show's wiki
Characters.Smite - Character descriptions transcribed from the character videos
Literature.Repairman Jack - Parts of work description copied from Wikipedia
Characters.Infinite Crisis - Parts copied from old version of official website (needs checking to see if still there)
WesternAnimation.Happy Ness The Secret Of The Loch - Description copied from VHS tape box
ComicBook.Alpha Gods - Part of work description copied from official website
Music.Among The Living - Part of description copied from Wikipedia
Creator.Kurt Sutter - Part of description copied from Wikipedia
Fanfic.Past Sins - Work description copied from host site
TabletopGame.Beyond The Supernatural - Work description copied from Wikipedia
Creator.Van Beuren Studios - Description apparently copied from a blog
Main.Footnote Fever - Text of a number of examples copied from Wikipedia
WesternAnimation.Camberwick Green - Part of description copied from Wikipedia
Series.Weinerville - Part of description copied from official website
Film.Yamashita The Tigers Treasure - Description copied from Wikipedia
Creator.David Lowery - Description copied from Wikipedia
Creator.Raphael Bob Waksberg - Description copied from Wikipedia
Creator.Kazuki Takahashi - Majority of description copied from Wikipedia
VideoGame.Action Taimanin - Many examples copied from the AllTheTropes wiki, including on subpages
Edited by MacronNotes on Mar 25th 2023 at 5:26:38 AM
Yeah I was thinking about that.
Could also ping/pm all the people who regularly edit the Cookie Run pages and tell them to change it or it's gonna get wiped
(still have no idea if I can actually ping people. Damn hyphen.)
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Can we remove Past Sins and the redlink from the banner?
Past Sins had that part of its description wiped.
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Among the Living was also fixed and can be removed from the list.
I blame myself for the Cookie Run problems. I had no idea that I wasn't supposed to do this!
Is there anything I can do to fix this?
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
Honestly, just by running through as many of the pages as you can and rewriting what you can.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
I'll try and see if I can make this more up to Crossover-Enthusiast's wishes!
Here's the first page. How did I do?
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunCRankCookies
Is there anything I can do differently?
How did I do for Yamashita: The Tiger's Treasure? It was on the list, so I thought I'd attempt to fix it!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/YamashitaTheTigersTreasure
How am I doing? I actually gave you guys a grace period of 1 hour so I'd know what I did right and wrong after the Cookie Run C Rank Cookies Page, but I haven't gotten any replies, so I had to take a leap of faith! Fighteer and Crossover-Enthusiast, I hope you like what I did for you so far! It is a tedious endeavor, but somebody has to clean up this act!
I've been asleep for most of the day so I haven't had time to look at the Cookie Run stuff. Thanks for going through it, though!
Personally I think the descriptions could use a bit more detail on the Cookies' personalities, but I understand being brief when there's so much to go through.
Like Gingerbrave's could be:
"One of if not the bravest Cookie on Earthbread, Gingerbrave escaped the Witch's oven and set out into a world full of adventure."
And Strawberry Cookie's could be:
"A shy and introverted Cookie, Strawberry Cookie would rather play video games than be out and about, but her love for her friends (usually) aids in pushing past her anxieties and helping whatever way she can.
Despite being "Strawberry" Cookie, she isn't actually made with strawberries, but rather strawberry extract."
Etc.
Edited by Crossover-Enthusiast on Sep 25th 2021 at 4:37:15 AM
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^_^
Thank you very much! I am not finished yet, but I hope to get this done before the weekend's over! Anything to correct my mistakes!
Well, that's everything!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunCRankCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunBRankCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunARankCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunSRankCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunLRankCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunRareCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunEpicCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunLegendaryCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunSpecialCookies
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/CookieRunKingdom
The thing is, though I might have gotten carried away given how high of an imagination I have, I just wanted to make sure the descriptions would be lively replacements that would carry the same charm as the plagiarizing descriptions that needed to be replaced! But cureconquestgirl had other plans if the later changes were an indication! Regardless, the both of us managed to take care of business!
Crossover-Enthusiast and Fighteer, this is for you! I hope we did a good job fixing the Copy-Paste problem you both had!
Edited by P360360P on Sep 26th 2021 at 9:46:40 AM
So, the (lengthy) plot summary for Disconnect was apparently copy-pasted straight from an older Wikipedia revision. It's been like this since the page's creation in 2017.
Disconnect movie description edited!
Guiltless Mephitine, this is for you!
Also, I don't know if anyone noticed, but Yamashita The Tigers Treasure is fixed as well!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/YamashitaTheTigersTreasure
Edited by P360360P on Sep 28th 2021 at 10:46:54 AM
The description for Saliva was copied from Wikipedia. Since it was only created last week, I sent the creator a plagiarism notifier.
Edited by Walkinshadows on Sep 28th 2021 at 2:14:25 PM
the one with the Saliva plagiarized? That was me. sorry. need some help.
he/him | Image Pickin' regular
The character descriptions on Characters.Gibiate copy from the official website.
Bonnie's Artistic Cousin
I just realized that at the character description on Characters.Half Life Full Life Consequences is plagiarized due to it also appearing on a quote's page. And that's after I fixed the grammar for it!
Will send the creator a notifier and then change it to the tag.
Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
The Unknown
A good chunk of the description for VisualNovel.Danganronpa S Ultimate Summer Camp is a verbatim quoting of an official synopsis.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I removed it. It has a sufficient description for now. When it's released, someone can update it with original writing.
Logic Girl
Characters.Doc Mc Stuffins describes Lambie as being "as soft as the wool covering her", which is also said on Doc McStuffins Wiki.
For every low there is a high.
That entire paragraph is made up of sentences from the article. Should probably check the other descriptions as well.
Edited by Walkinshadows on Oct 3rd 2021 at 7:21:34 AM
The middle three paragraphs of the description on Literature.Star Wars Fatal Alliance are word-for-word identical to the official synopsis in my e-reader app. I finished the audiobook not long ago and I can take a crack at rewriting it later.
Edited by HeraldAlberich on Oct 6th 2021 at 2:03:36 PM
Or take the lazy-but-effective approach of deleting all the descriptions and putting in the placeholder text. That way someone seeing them cannot help but recognize the problem. Even better, it might help spread the concept of not plagiarizing.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"