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Music to My Eyes: A Sixth Commandment for Writing Excellent ReviewsMay 06 '01 (Updated May 07 '01) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Do the right thing... Give credit where credit is due! (NOTE: Please read "Fair Use and This Epinion" in the Comments Section!)
About three months ago, I wrote an opinion entitled "Syntax Cut: Five Commandments for Writing Excellent Reviews." Here’s a quick review of the five commandments I offered in that editorial: FIRST: Thou shalt have on hand a reliable set of writer’s reference books. SECOND: Thou shalt faithfully do thine homework. THIRD: Thou shalt plan thine review before thou writeth it. FOURTH: ...Thou shalt re-read, review and refine thine draft until thou be verily satisfied with it. FIFTH: Thou... shalt examine in detail thine writing style and make adjustments with thine readers foremost in thine mind. Today, I am adding a sixth commandment to my list: COMMANDMENT THE SIXTH: Thou shalt give full credit where credit is due when using the words of other writers, songwriters, and composers. I’m adding this commandment because I’ve noticed a disturbing trend at Epinions lately. In many music and book reviews (especially music reviews), people are quoting song lyrics, poems, and text from books at some length... without giving credit where credit is due for the words they use. Now, I have no objection to using other people’s song lyrics, poems, and excerpts of text in reviews. This is a perfectly legitimate technique for review writing. It’s a tried and true method of analyzing a body of work and getting your point across as to just how good (or bad, as the case may be) an author or songwriter is. It’s also a great way to add a creative, dramatic flair to your review or editorial. I’ve used the technique a few times myself. The problem comes when we don't give credit where credit is due. When we include words in our writing that are not our own, without giving credit where credit is due, we are, in fact, committing an act of plagiarism (plagiarize -ized -izing -ism v. to take (ideas, writings, etc.) from (another) and pass them off as one's own) (NOTE 1)... and possibly copyright infringement. At the outset, I want to make it clear that I'm not saying that people are doing anything deliberatly wrong! I believe that most Epinionators write with the best of intentions. They simply may not be aware that using other people’s words in a review without giving credit where credit is due, by crediting the author(s) or giving notice of copyright, is a big "no-no." I’m sure many of you may think I’m being unduly hard-nosed about something that really ought not to be an issue here at Epinions... "There goes good ol’ mkp51 once again... creating a tempest in a teacup!!" I can hear the hue and cry from the multitudes of music and book reviewers even as I write this editorial: ARGUMENT THE FIRST: "This is not about copyright infringement." Sorry, folks, but this is all about copyright infringement! I’m no legal expert, but my understanding of the issue is simple: with very few exceptions, it's illegal to use other people's words, especially copyrighted material, without giving precise and specific credit to the author and copyright owner. ARGUMENT THE SECOND: "C'mon!! This is Epinions, not college!! The rules are a lot more liberal here!" When I was in my Master’s degree program at Troy State University a few years ago, I was required to write a ton of term papers and a 60-page independent study, all in lieu of a master’s thesis. The university’s guidelines regarding the use of other people’s works were simple and very direct: if you included a quotation from any source, you were required to cite the author in a footnote. Period. If you didn’t, you failed the course on grounds of plagiarism. No questions asked... No excuses accepted. Granted, Epinions.com isn't Troy State University, and our reviews aren't term papers or Masters theses (although some of them rise to that qualitative level!!) But the basic rules are the same: if you use someone else’s words, give credit where credit is due!! ARGUMENT THE THIRD: "Nobody else does it, why should I?!?" This is a variation on that good old "everybody else does it" argument for why we do questionable things. Some philosophers and theologians refer to it as "situational ethics." There is, in fact, a strong ethical argument to be made here. Just because "everybody else does it," (or in this case "nobody else does it") doesn't make doing it (or not doing it) right! I was always taught that right is right and wrong is wrong. In this case, not crediting others for their work is wrong. Period. Stop for a moment and imagine you're an aspiring songwriter. You’ve just written your first song. A record company buys it and a major star decides to record it and include it on a new CD. You’re ecstatic! When the CD is released, you’re interested in finding out what the real consumer thinks about it, not just those "ivory tower" music reviewers. You cruise on over to Epinions, where you’ve been a member for years. You see that good ol’ mkp51 (whom you trust) has written a new review about the CD with your song on it. When you read his review, you see that good ol' mkp51 has written extensively about your song. About 40 percent of his review is made up of direct quotes of the words you wrote!! Yet, good ol’ mkp51 doesn’t bother to mention your name even once. Doesn’t see fit to include the fact that your words are copyrighted. And, to make matters worse, good ol’ mkp51 pockets the penny-per-hit Eroyalty. What do you get? (Besides a sour taste in your mouth?) Nothing... except the theft of your intellectual property!! Think about it. How would that make you feel? ARGUMENT THE FOURTH: "Giving credit where credit is due is too much work; I just don't have the time." When it comes to doing the right thing, I'm a big proponent of making the time to do it right... the first time. Look at it this way: if you can't find the time to do it right the first time you do it, when are you ever gonna find the time to do it again on that day when someone decides to make an issue of it?! The time required for giving credit where credit is due is minimal. You'll see what I mean in a moment or two. Read on... Lest anyone think I’m trying to be the "Epinions police" here, let me assure you, I’m not. I’ve identified what I think is a real problem at Epinions.com, and all I’m trying to do is educate others to the problem so we can solve it together. As a means of accomplishing that goal, I’ve begun the practice of temporarily lowering my rating of, and commenting on, reviews that contain the uncredited words of others. Now that I’ve highlighted the problem, I’d like to propose a simple solution. If you quote the words of others, just give credit where credit is due. Go ahead... insert that footnote at the end of your review. Include the author’s name, publisher, copyright date, and copyright owner. For music and lyrics, here’s the most widely accepted format for a footnote. You’ll usually find all the information you need in the CD liner notes. (The example I’ve used is one I actually included in one of my reviews. Feel free to use it as a template for your own footnotes.) "Lyrics are from the Mike and the Mechanics song The Living Years. Words and music by Mike Rutherford and B.A. Robertson. Copyright © 1988, R & BA Music, Ltd./Hit and Run Music Ltd., (BMI) and Atlantic Records. All Rights Reserved." For books, the footnote format is even simpler: (Another example from one of my reviews. Again, feel free to use this one as a model for yours.) "Fred Anderson, Crucible of War (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.) p. xxx." (IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT BOOKS: Check the copyright page of the book you’re using to see if the publisher has posted any guidelines for using copyrighted material. Some publishers require you to get written permission before using any quotation from their works. Others will permit you to use quotations freely as long as you provide proper citations.) See how easy it is?? All it requires is a little extra time and attention to detail. Above all, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re doing the right thing... by giving credit where credit is due!! ------------------------------ NOTE 1: Webster's New World Dictionary and Thesaurus, Electronic Edition. Copyright © 1998, Macmillan Publishers; © 1988, 1991, 1994, 1996 Simon & Schuster, Inc; and © 1997-98 Accent Software International Ltd. All Rights Reserved.  |
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