[REPORT] Plagiarism

[Lubiar]

Please see viewtopic.php?f=6&t=502167, storefront/thread OP plagiarized content from my own trade zone program

While I do not claim to be the first and only trade/economic zone program thread in the game nor do I claim exclusive ownership of the idea, it is clear the former storefront's/thread's author substantially copied my structure and content. You may compare the language used in both storefronts/threads, certain concepts were even lifted in toto. (In particular, please look at lease of land, revenue generation/sharing, reduction of economic barriers as well as additional protocols portions)

Moderator intervention would be appreciated to correct this unacceptable behavior.

[Santheres]

Lease of land as an example:
You have:

The host nation shall allocate a portion of its territory for a trade zone of Lubiar, to be leased to the latter in perpetuity.

They have:

The Host Nations in this agreement shall grant at least seven portions of territory to establish Specialized Economic Zones including trading areas and manufacturing centers, to be leased in perpetuity to the Foreign Consumer Nations of this contract.

These are vaguely similar, but only insofar as they touch on the same concept. You don't own the right over the phrases "host nations", or "in perpetuity", nor over the concept of land leases.

You also don't own a copyright over the concept of revenue sharing, or reducing economic barriers. The closest it seems to come of what you said to look at in particular is Additional Protocols; however, it is generally a layman's attempt at legal speak and is going to end up similar. They might have based theirs on yours, but it could just as easily have been coincidence.

I see no plagiarism here. At most, you were a template they then did a decent job distancing themselves from, which is perfectly fine.

Thanks!

[Lubiar]

Thank you for looking into this.

I see no plagiarism here. At most, you were a template they then did a decent job distancing themselves from, which is perfectly fine.

I agree with your assessment that they used my Trade Zone Program as template, but I disagree that they did a decent job of distancing themselves from it, and while I note that their thread has been edited 8 times in total, the last being made on 12 April 2021 at 9:32am as of this posting, strong similarities in the thought structure and the language used remain.

Please consider the following:

Trade Zone Program of Lubiar:

By participating in the Trade Zone Program and the Lubiarian Free Trade Area (LFTA), Lubiar and the host nation agree to the following:

Corrish Special Economic Trade Zone Agreement:

By participating in the Corrish Special Economic Trade Zone Agreement (SETZA), Corrington and the host nation agree to the following:

Trade Zone Program of Lubiar:

Section 2. Non-interference
a. Lubiar commits to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the host nation and shall refrain from interfering in its internal affairs.
b. The host nation commits to respect the control and management of Lubiar of the trade zone, the autonomy of the trade zone, and shall refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Lubiar and its trade zone.

xx

Corrish Special Economic Trade Zone Agreement:

Section 3. Refraining From Unlawful Interference
Both the Host Nations and the Foreign Consumer Nations shall commit to respecting the control and management of the specialized economic zone, the autonomy of the Specialized Economic Zone, and shall refrain from interfering in the operations of manufacturing and trade zones.

Trade Zone Program of Lubiar:

Section 2. Non-interference
xx
c. In times of foreign military aggression, terrorism or natural disaster, the governments of Lubiar and the host nation may request for the assistance, including the deployment of military forces, as may be deemed appropriate by the host government.

Corrish Special Economic Trade Zone Agreement:

Section 6. Defense
In the event of war, terrorism or natural disaster, the Foreign Consumer Nation and the Host Nation may request for assistance in the form of military forces or humanitarian relief, as deemed necessary by the government of Host Nation. Militarized trading corporations such as Corrington’s M.M.T.C. are legally permitted to conduct both defense and business through this agreement.

The closest it seems to come of what you said to look at in particular is Additional Protocols; however, it is generally a layman's attempt at legal speak and is going to end up similar. They might have based theirs on yours, but it could just as easily have been coincidence.

Trade Zone Program of Lubiar:

Section 7. Additional Protocols
Lubiar and the host nation may enter into additional protocols which may revise or add to the terms of this agreement.

xx

Corrish Special Economic Trade Zone Agreement:

Section 10. Additional Protocols
Corrington, South Americanastan and additional Foreign Consumer Nations and the Host Nation may implement further protocols which may revise or improve the terms of this agreement.

I highly doubt this is a case of coincidence. It is easy to come up with different formulations for this provision that captures the same thought.

If anything, this only shows that they have indeed copied the idea and language used in my Trade Zone Program but have failed to substantially present their own work as a distinct, independent concept. The similarities are not inconsiderable, even with their own insertions.

If they insist on maintaining the elements they lifted from my thread, and presenting them under similar contexts, the least they should do is cite/attribute the template that they used from my Trade Zone Program.