The Loophole Plagiarists Exploit Here
And why publications handle plagiarism poorly
When my daughter was young, one of her elementary teachers used to punish the whole class every time a problem kid acted out.
There were 2 problem kids. Let’s call them Mick and Trent.
Kicking desks. Yelling. Throwing stuff. Taking crayons, show & tell treasures and recess snacks from the other kids. They were big kids, those two. Easily a head taller than any other kid in the class. And hefty. Built to bully.
If it wasn’t Mick, it was Trent. If it wasn’t Trent, it was Mick.
The teacher would stand there shrieking “class, class, settle down…”
Yelling at the “class” didn’t work, of course. It wasn’t the class. It was Mick or Trent. Then she’d get fed up and give the whole class detention.
All so she wouldn’t have to deal with those 2 kids. That went on until I got more fed up than she was, but that’s another story.
When it comes to plagiarism on Medium, a lot of publications are like that teacher. Punishing the wrong people. Here, let me explain…
Can you imagine if you didn’t get paid unless you got curated?
That’s how the rules work for writers who don’t have a paid membership.
Medium has 2 kinds of memberships. Free and paid. You already know that. What you might not know is the vast differences. It’s not just that free members can only read 3 stories a month. It’s more.
Paid members can read, write and publish to their heart’s content. If they publish behind the paywall, they get paid based on reads. Paid members qualify for curation, but if they don’t get curated, they still get paid.
Not so for free members.
Free members only get to read 3 stories per month. But it’s more than that. When a free member submits a story, they don’t submit to the paywall like paid members. Free members submit for curation.
If they get curated, they go behind the paywall. If they do not get curated, they do not get paid. Period. End of story. No curation, no pay.
Here you go, lest you doubt…
Do I need to be in the Partner Program or a member to be curated? No, you don’t have to enroll in the Partner Program or be a Medium member to be curated. You only need to check the box to “Allow curators to recommend my story to interested readers” before publishing your story. [member FAQ]
What happens if my story is not selected by curators? If you are not in the Medium Partner Program, and your story is not selected, then it will not be part of the metered paywall. [member FAQ]
Can I still earn if my story is not curated? If you are enrolled in the Partner Program, you can earn money on your stories whether or not your story is curated. [member FAQ]
This is Medium’s way of promoting editorial standards
Medium’s way of saying yes, you can earn money here without paying monthly membership fees. But only if you follow the editorial standards and your writing is good enough to get curated.
You get curated — you get paid. No curation — no pay. Get a membership. Only paid members earn money for un-curated stories.
Now let’s talk about bad & spammy writing…
A lot of writers here have some idea that the “free members” are the ones pumping out crap content.
Some might. Dunning Kruger is a real thing. Some people truly do not know how bad their writing is. Membership fees don’t cure Dunning Kruger.
Remember, free members don’t earn money unless they get curated.
The curators are darn good. If I look back on the stuff that didn’t get curated, I can see why. Not at the time. Not while it’s my shiny new idea, but later when I re-read a few weeks later, I can see why.
It wasn’t that good. Probably, it was rushed.
There are no free members getting paid to pump out garbage. Free members only get paid if they first get curated.
There are, for sure, free members writing garbage.
Not to get paid here, because they don’t. No curation, no pay. Sometimes, they’re deluded folk trying to feed affiliate links or self promotion to Google. Medium has good domain rank.
But again, free members only get paid if they first get curated. Only paid members earn from non-curated stories.
The loophole plagiarists use.
The vast majority of plagiarists are not paid members. Why is obvious. If they get caught, all they need is a new email to try again under a new profile.
They aren’t here to read and clap for your writing or mine. They’re here for one reason, and one reason only. To publish stolen articles behind the paywall, and hope they get paid before they get caught.
The loophole they exploit? If you’re good enough to curate, you’ll get paid. Even as a non-member.
That’s why they steal 2 very specific types of content. — They steal from popular bloggers. — And they steal poetry.
Those are the 2 things that increase the odds of curation, which will get them paid. They don’t want to steal bad writing. They won’t get paid for it.
If even one curator doesn’t have the paid version of grammarly, or doesn’t check every story for plagiarism, they might slip by and get curated.
It happens. I’ve seen plagiarized content get curated. Curators spend hours reviewing content. Human error happens. Plagiarists bank on that.
One of the editors at Illumination reported a plagiarist who was stealing articles from an author whose book hit the New York Times bestseller list. Even more often, it’s poetry they’re plagiarizing.
(Side note; don’t ask the author’s name. I don’t roll that way)
Now let’s talk about publications who ostracize free members…
Because plagiarists tend to be “free” members with “disposable” accounts, many publications simply shut out free members.
Sorry. Member content only. Problem solved, right?
Just like that teacher. Punishing the many because of the few.
The joke is that many “member” stories get flagged at plagiarism, too. They’re just not entire articles or poems swiped. Nope. It’s mosaic plagiarism. Which is when they grab a paragraph here, a paragraph there, and call it an article.
Those kids? They were easy to understand. They both lived with domestic abuse. Kids who watch Mom get smacked around tend to be troubled.
Plagiarists? No idea why they do it. Don’t care. It’s theft. It’s wrong.
Know what else is wrong? Punishing the many because of the few.
Class, class…that’s enough. You ALL have detention.
Oh, come on. It’s 5 bucks. Right?
I know membership is only $5. I also know millions of people are out of work around the world. Many are not getting stimulus checks or unemployment payments. They have no income. Zip. Nada. It’s stressful.
When you have no income and bills are piling up, it’s hard to justify paying any amount on a site where 94% of writers make under $100.
But they can hope. Can’t they?
I mean, even Medium says — if you can get curated, you can get paid. Worth a shot, right? Maybe, just maybe, the fates will favor them.
When times are hard, sometimes, hope is enough. They can write, and hope to get curated and if they do get curated and get paid, maybe they can justify spending the money to become a paying member.
I’ve seen that on Facebook groups.
Lurk. Stop sharing your links and just watch and read for a week. Astounding what you see when you’re not focused on sharing and clicking links. Writers proudly saying they’re finally getting a paid membership because their writing is paying for it. Woohoo.
I have never seen people so ridiculously happy to earn $20. It’s not the 20 bucks.
It’s that they earned it writing.
But let’s punish those people, who will not earn a penny if they don’t get curated, because plagiarists use free accounts, right?
Class, class!!
Medium doesn’t punish free accounts
They just say work for it. If you can get curated, you can get paid. Even as a free member. Knowing that makes me even more proud of this place.
Yes, there’s flaws here. Where isn’t there? But they have some good stuff going on.
Publications looking for the “M” sweater, I don’t know… Now that I’ve read the entire FAQ, I’m not so sure.
And the publications who say you have to be a member to get curated? Clearly they haven’t even read the rules they’re referring to.
We need to stop with the scarlet letter.
Stop punishing the many because of the few.
Just because plagiarists use free accounts does not mean everyone with a free account is a problem.
Deal with the problems. Report them. Ban them. Put them on a private editors’ blacklist if you must.
No one said it would be easy. There is nothing about running a publication that is easy. It’s a boatload of work. Doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile.
And while we’re at it, if you ever find yourself complaining at an editor, hold your words and volunteer for a month. Bet you get a mind shift.
We need to do better at understanding the system we’re working within. And then go the extra mile. There’s not much competition there.
Thanks for reading.