Is Using and Not Crediting Something Someone Posted in an Online Forum Plagarism?

[Peachesbackwards]

Is directly using something someone said as a comment in an Online Forum or online article without me putting in quotes, plagarism? What about with quotes but not crediting the source?

[Nathan]

You should always credit the source and put in quotes. It differentiates between what you said, and what you are quoting. Otherwise it is plagiarism.

The only reason for leaving out quotes and credit is if you were deliberately trying to pass that person's words off as your own, and yes, that would be plagiarism.

[ishan]

Quoting is essential. You should refer to the original source.

[QuirkyJessi]

Completely agree with Nathan. Quote or you're stealing and deceiving. You shouldn't be quoting a full piece either, unless you have express permission from the original author, so be sure to only quote snippets and link to the full text for your readers to see elsewhere.

[MsJosay]

I agree with all of the above posts. Just like with any other type of writing/publishing, if you are not giving credit where credit is due you are plagiarizing. When in doubt use quotes and links to full texts.

[joshmorison]

I agree, although... a forum is a group of people expressing their own opinions - it's not somewhere to go for reference material.

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by joshmorison

I agree, although... a forum is a group of people expressing their own opinions - it's not somewhere to go for reference material.

Likewise, a lot of blogs are nothing more than personal opinion. The bloggers that actually do research are far and few between.

[Peachesbackwards]

While I probably won't do it, I personally do not consider comments in a forum or in response to an article, copyrightable material. Interestingly enough, yesterday someone quoted an entire blog piece I wrote of I'm guessing 700 words and put it in another forum without at least putting in a link to my site! I got ticked off because the guy didn't put a link in or aternatively ask for permission to quote the entire piece and when I complained about this in the forum, the English Board Monitor had the nerve to reprimand me for making this a public issue instead of contacting him privately!

[Nathan]

That is irritating. Here at Bloggeries we wouldn't "reprimand you" for complaining about copyright issues. None of us like it when other people rip off our work, and it is correct to complain about these things.

[Captured Ink]

Hi there,

Def I would put it in quotes and link back to the source.

I use wordpress and I put it in a blackquote and also put a link back to the source.