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roxanne398
Community Member

Plagiarism

Help!

 

I entered into a contract today to "write and refine" a client's thoughts into blog posts. Here is the exact text from his original post:

 

"I would like the writer to translate my thoughts into technical / business articles primarily to be posted in linkedin and other industry magazines. These are my point of view on a given subject. Prefer someone who have done similar work close to ghost writing ( i call it )."

 

Here's the problem: 90% of the project is plagiarized. I've found the source documents for almost every sentence -- and none of them belong to the client. They are definitely not HIS thoughts.

 

So, I have two questions:

1) Will Upwork view rewriting plagiarized work as technically within the scope of the contract? (If I had this client off Upwork, I would have simply returned the work to him and ended the relationship.)

2) If not, then how do I remove myself from this client and close the contract without destroying my Upwork reputation?

 

This is only my 2nd job on Upwork, so any disputes could end things for me before they even start.


Thank you for the help!

7 REPLIES 7
bobafett999
Community Member

If your job is to translate the material given to you do your job and let the buyer worry about other issues.  Yes in real world you can point out to your client - they are not mean.  Also, in real world they do not have tools to ruin your career.  But on Upwork, he may have hired someone else to write it for him and the other may have copied the content.  If he himself copied and  you remind him that he will be mad and use the the tools to definitely give you bad review.  Thus ending your career.  Just use don't ask, don't tell.

 

You can say it with red face that you didn't write.  You just translated the stuff that was given.

@Prashant P wrote:

If your job is to translate the material given to you do your job and let the buyer worry about other issues.  Yes in real world you can point out to your client - they are not mean.  Also, in real world they do not have tools to ruin your career.  But on Upwork, he may have hired someone else to write it for him and the other may have copied the content.  If he himself copied and  you remind him that he will be mad and use the the tools to definitely give you bad review.  Thus ending your career.  Just use don't ask, don't tell.

 

You can say it with red face that you didn't write.  You just translated the stuff that was given.

 

Seriously? You don't see the problem with the OP helping this client steal content? I find this very strange, given your often-stated view that clients are mostly scammers. 


nkocendova
Community Member

Hi Roxanne,

We'll have a member of the team reach out to you directly in regard to this predicament, gather more information from you if required and to further advise.

~Nina

Thanks, Nina. I appreciate your prompt response!

I'll be on the lookout for any requests for information.

Best,

Roxanne

Hi Nina (or whichever moderator is monitoring),

 

My deadline for this project is today and I haven't heard anything from customer service. Can you please tell me how to go about getting an update?

 

I'm not sure if I should move forward and deliver cited work to the client or wait for whatever action Upwork was planning to take, if any.

 

Thanks for your help.

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

HI Roxanne,

 

I checked this and see that you are communicating with our team regarding this question on this ticket, please allow time to them to response and update ticket and if you have any additional question please post them on that ticket for further assistance. Thank you for your patience!

~ Bojan
Upwork

Ha, ha! Well, part of that is true. There IS a ticket, however no one seems to be doing anything with it. I haven't had a single response since the ticket was opened.

 

You moderators are right on top of things, though. I'm really disappointed your team couldn't get an answer out before my project hit its deadline.

 

Good thing I kept working! I did my research and cited the project appropriately--which cost far more than the project is worth--and was able to deliver the first draft without missing my deadline, so you can cancel the ticket. I'll take it from here.

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