The definition of plagiarism according to Merriam Webster Dictionary is “to kidnap”, but in the modern sense, to steal someone’s words. My friends in the National Writers Union hate plagiarism because if someone steals your words and they make money from it, you don’t. Many writers are fearful that Artificial Intelligence is nothing more than a robot that runs around the Internet stealing words, whole paragraphs, and not paying the original writers of those words.
As a “wanna be” writer, I earned a living working as a legal secretary. One case that I worked on was about stealing words. A big-name air deodorizer manufacturer was suing another big-name air deodorizer manufacturer over the use of the words “morning fresh.” Millions of dollars were spent in this court battle. As a secretary, I cashed in by working the usual 9 to 5, and then staying for over-time until 3:00 am. During weeks of long days, I got vouchers to cover my dinners. The office was located in Manhattan, yep New York City, on 57th Street, near some very fine restaurants. My dinners were delicious adventures in French, Italian, Indian and Chinese cuisine!
At 3:00 am, I was given a limousine ride home to Jersey City, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River. While riding in the limo, I experienced an intense quiet that I never knew could exist in the “Big Apple.” I looked out the windows at skyscrapers lit up. It truly is “the city that never sleeps,” but I learned that the lights were on because the cleaning crews were busy vacuuming and wiping down the conference room tables in these towers of offices. As we passed through the Holland Tunnel, the plush leather interior made it difficult to stay awake until I arrived home. All this because these corporations were willing to spend so much money fighting over “morning fresh.”
How can anyone own words? I can understand being paid for the work you do as a writer to research, interview, assess, and finally, write an article or manuscript. It’s work! But how can a person or corporation own words? Does a cowboy own all cows? Does a dentist own the caps on your teeth? If someone comes up with a clever phrase, it usually becomes so popular it becomes stale! “Old hat!”
It is the work that is done by writers that earns them the money. It is the depth of knowledge in the piece that gives it the value. A robot can run around gathering words that have been written over the years, but only humans can give value and assessment on the present human condition.
I hate plagiarism. I recall one MBA paper I got from a student who was suspiciously complementary to me. Apparently, he was schmoozing his way through school by ingratiating himself before teachers and presenting plagiarized work. His paper was an exact copy from a female MBA student the year before who I gave an A to.
As writers, we can't help but use words and phrases that we've read somewhere or heard. It is getting harder when you can't write a line from a song lyric without getting permission from the large companies that own the rights to the lyrics written by someone who was paid a pittance for them.
Your case was over trademark, rather than plagiarism, I believe. As far as advertising goes, companies want to plant phrases in peoples' brains that trigger them to buy a product. Brainwashing is accepted corporate marketing principle, treating us like robots.
Ron
God bless.
Bob Drews
www.robert-drews.com