Copyright & Plagiarism Policy

ADOPTED POLICY BY THE DOODAD COMMITTEE, PART OF NONPROFIT TAMPA REGIONAL ARTISTS, IS ADAPTED FROM THE SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS

Before entering any sculpture or artist statement to this Contest, make sure it adheres to the plagiarism and copyright guidelines below that are adopted by the Doodad Committee “we”, “us”, “our”, “our team”, part of nonprofit Tampa Regional Artists. We may amend this policy without prior notice. This policy was last updated on February 1, 2021.

Sculptures and artist statements that are submitted to the Annual Repurposed Doodad Sculpture Competition (“the Contest”) must be original work created by the Contestants. If a submitted sculpture or artist statement is copied from another artist or is plagiarized, the work will be disqualified from the Contest.

To avoid this from happening, please review these guidelines before entering your work.

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT & PLAGIARISM?

Copyright is a form of legal protection prohibiting others from copying one’s creative work without permission. A copyright is a property right. Copyright law grants the creator of an original work the exclusive rights for its use and distribution.

Plagiarism is an ethical violation resulting from failure to cite sources and engaging in the act of passing someone else’s work or ideas off as one’s own. This applies even if you have only copied a part, rather than the whole, of another’s work.

HOW DO I KNOW IF MY WORK IS ORIGINAL?

An original work is one that is new and different from what others have created. This means that you are the creator of the work, and the work is not copied from someone else’s original work.

Even if there is no exact or literal copying, but the average person may notice substantial similarities between the submitted work and the source material, it is possible that the work is not considered original and should not be submitted to the Contest. For example, an entered sculpture or artist statement that directly copies another person’s work, even if created in a different media, or a piece of writing that simply rearranges the words of someone else’s writing is not original work.

CAN I USE SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK IF I MAKE CHANGES TO IT?

If your work transforms the source material, then it may be considered original. Transformative work is a new work that adds value, substantially changes, comments on, or gives a new expression or meaning to the source.

  • If the submission uses another artist or writer’s work as raw material and transforms the original work by bringing new insights and understandings to the piece, it may be submitted to the Contest.
  • Changing the medium—for example, creating a sculpture based on a photo that was taken by someone else, or a sculpture created by another person, or creating a poem by rearranging the lyrics to a song—does NOT make the work transformative.
  • Cropping or resizing a sculpture does NOT make the work transformative.
  • Changing the order of the lines in a poem or adding a few words to a sentence written by another author is NOT transformative.

WHAT IF I CITE MY SOURCES? CAN I USE ANOTHER PERSON’S WORK IF I GIVE THEM CREDIT?

You may use limited portions of another’s work if you cite your source and if the final product is still an original idea. For example, you can quote another author in an artist statement if you cite the author in your artist statement.

There is no formula, specific number of words, or percentage of someone else’s work that is acceptable to use when submitting your work to the Contest. What is important is that your finished work is something new and different from your source.

CONSEQUENCES OF COPYRIGHT & PLAGIARISM VIOLATIONS

If we have reason to believe that a submission violates the participation terms, the student submission will be disqualified. In this event, we may refuse or revoke an Award, and take such other measures, including the recall or removal of the work from the Contest, as we deem appropriate. Bear in mind that this policy is in the interest of both the Contestant and our team, since the display or distribution of an infringing submission could result in financial liability for both the Contestant and our team.

WHAT IF I FIND A WORK THAT WAS SUBMITTED TO THE CONTEST THAT ISN’T ORIGINAL?

If you suspect that a work was copied from another source or was plagiarized, please let us know at: [email protected]

We will investigate to determine if the work violates our participation terms. Because of Contestant privacy concerns, we will not follow-up with you to report on the outcome of our investigation.

TIPS: PREVENTING COPYRIGHT & PLAGIARISM VIOLATIONS

  • Teachers, parent and Contestants are responsible for educating themselves on copyright and plagiarism issues. This page is only a guide. There is no formula for creating an original work.
  • If you have any doubt about whether a submission is original, choose not to submit that work.
  • Do not submit fan art or fan fiction.
  • Always cite all sources, whether the source is protected by copyright or not.
  • Even if you have permission to use a work or if the work is in the public domain, the work that you submit to the Contest must represent a new, original work.
  • No number of words or percentage of a source can be safely assumed to render a work original.
  • Changing the medium of an original work is not considered transformative. For example, a sculpture copied from a real sculpture or photograph of a sculpture taken from the Internet or a magazine is not considered original and should not be submitted to the Contest.
  • Changing the order of the lines in a poem or adding a few words to a sentence written by another author is not considered transformative. For example, a poem comprised of rearranged or paraphrased song lyrics is not considered original and should not be submitted as part of a sculpture or artist statement for this Contest.
  • Teachers and Parents: if a classroom assignment involves any copying of another artist or writer’s work, even if it’s just for the purpose of practicing and learning, please direct Contestants not to submit these works to the Contest.