Desert Moon's Diary Plagiarized

Whilst surfing the internet a few days ago, I was quite surprised to find some pictures and articles from my blog that have appeared on another blog. Whilst I honestly do not mind if anyone out there utilizes any of the information from my blog I wanted to warn the blogger about the fact that copyrights and infringement laws do exist on the internet as well. Next time, she may encounter the wrath of another blogger or an author who may disapprove of the fact that their intellectual property has been stolen.She could land up being in serious trouble with the law. We had quite a friendly chat on facebook . Excerpts below:

•  Hi there. Whilst browsing through the internet, I came across this blog and found that three of my articles from my blog appears on your blog page. I honestly do not mind you guys using the information but it would have been courteous if you asked first......http://desertmoonsdiary.blogspot.com/search/label/Ramadhaan http://blogs.women24.com/shakeata/2012/07/09/life-in-saudi-the-magical-month-of-ramadan/ . .http://desertmoonsdiary.blogspot.com/2011_10_31_archive.html.http://blogs.women24.com/shakeata/2012/07/09/life-in-saudi-hajj/ . .http://desertmoonsdiary.blogspot.com/2012/04/amazing-camel-souq.html .http://blogs.women24.com/shakeata/2012/07/09/life-in-saudi-camels/ (info in this article is from www.simbacom.com---Last picture from my blog) Whilst you guys can keep all the information on the blog. I would advise you to please be careful in the future as copyright and infringement laws do exist on the net as well. I was also oblivious to this fact until recently........Regards and best wishes. DESERT MOON
  

  
  

  Desert Moon's Diary: Ramadhaan

  desertmoonsdiary.blogspot.com

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  Women24 Dear Sumayya, although this blog is hosted on our blogging platform, Women24 has nothing to do with that specific blog. We will contact this blogger and let her know about the correct protocol when it comes to reposting other's content. Thank you for letting us know and for being so gracious. Kind regards, Lili (Ed)

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  Jeanita Orton My sincerest apologies! I was still new to blogging then and have not used any content from the above blog again.
  
  Kind Regards
  Shakeata

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  Women24 This all-round graciousness makes our hearts happy.

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  Sumayya Mehtar Jeanita, no problem dear..You most welcome to use any material that appears on my blog dear..Its all about sharing info and knowledge..I just wanted you to be more careful as you may come across someone out there who doesn't like the fact that you utilized their work without asking.They will definitely make your life miserable by naming and shaming you in the public arena and destroying your reputation as well as relationships amongst family and friends.. I certainly do not wish that for you or anyone else..I was also unaware of copyright laws that existed on the net until recently...So the moral of the story is this..always ask before posting or you may use other peoples articles provided you include a link that shows the source of the original article...Take care and happy blogging..))))

I would also like to send out a strong message to all my friends who simply copy and paste articles, pictures,poems and quotes randomly from the net on to their facebook pages. I use to be also equally guilty of doing this but not any more.Now that I have the proper information regarding copyright and infringement laws I am more aware about the concept of plagiarism and how to avoid it. Please friends let us all refrain from plagiarism. Always check the source of the article and acknowledge the person who has written the article. Remember that it is intellectual property and belongs to someone else who has probably spent long hours putting it all together.From an Islamic perspective as reported in an authentic hadith, the Prophet Muhammed (saw) mentioned the following: "He who credits himself with what was not given to him is like one who wears a double cloak of deception."(ibn abd al-barr Jami al Tahsil (1/98).

Ibn al-Manzûr commented on this hadîth saying:

The one who credits himself with what was not given to him is one who says he was given something which was never really his or who attributes to himself talents that he really does not possess, implying that Allah had bestowed him with these things or that people accredited him with what was never specifically his.

In this way, he has perpetrated a double lie: Firstly, he attributes to himself what does not truly apply to him or makes claims to possess what he really does not possess. Secondly, he lies regarding the giver – either Allah or other people. [Lisân al-`Arab(1/247)]

Hence from the above hadith or saying of the Prophet Muhammed (saw), plagiarism or copying other peoples work is considered to be a sin. Always ask the author if the article can be re - posted or utilized or use the article but make sure that you include the authors name as well as a link  that shows the original source of the article so that credit can be given where it is due. On that note, I encourage everyone out there to please visit the women24 facebook page as well as their website. I can assure you that you will come across some pretty interesting, thought provoking as well as entertaining reading material.

As a side note, I was quite surprised to find my pictures that were taken during our Malawi trip in the Laudium Sun newspaper. I personally have no issue with anyone utilizing my pictures if they are going to be used in a good way to promote a good cause. It would have been courteous though if they asked first.