NIZAR OUTHMAN (SYRIA)

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Dear Er

I wish that u have a nice vacation ..

Turkey really wonderful ..

I wish to visit it the next year

Anyway dear,

here is an essay about plagiarism ..

I wish to publish it in your site

 

Sevgili Er

Sana iyi tatiller diliyorum..

Türkiye gerçekten harika bir ülke..

Ben de gelecek yýl ziyaret etmek istiyorum..

Sana „Eser Hýrsýzlýðý“ ile ilgili yazdýðým bir denemeyi iletiyorum.

Sitede deðerlendirirsen sevinirim..

 

Nizar Outhman

 

PLAGIARISM: DRAWBACKS IN CARTOONS…

 

By: Nizar Outhman

 

Few hours passed after the announcement of the results of the 27th International Nasreddin Hodja Cartoon Contest , which was won  by the Russian cartoonist Igore Nikitin, when Iran cartoon website featured one of the cartoons which participated in the “Tehran International cartoon Biennial – 1995”.  This cartoon belongs to the Italian cartoonist Dangelis Marco, and has a great similarity to the winning one. Few weeks earlier, the Romanian Artist Ovidiu Borta accused the third prize winner in the “24th Aydin Dogan International Cartoon Competition” the Indian cartoonist C B Shibu, of plagiarism, taking the idea of his cartoon from one of her cartoons published in 2005. This issue called the great Romanian cartoonist Julian Pena Pai to highlight one of the great Turkish cartoonist, Muhittin Koroglo cartoons – 2003. The surprise was that it also has the same idea, with a relative difference in the message that was delivered.

 

 It is well known that this was not the first time that plagiarism raises an issue with its different concepts in the world of cartoon. This phenomenon has spread in all activities related to this art, from festivals and international competitions through newspapers and access to cartoon websites. Many professionals and interested people wrote about it, all from his point of view.  Thus, Plagiarism is not limited to the beginners or the second row of cartoonists in the world, but also included a number of major and well known professionals. It is not necessary to come up with examples since the phenomenon is widely spreading.

 

 Plagiarism or robbery is not only limited to the art of cartoon, but the characteristics of cartoon which evolvee through the “image”, with it reflections in the mind, makes cartoon more susceptible than others, to detect and clarifyy such plagiarism. And here we can not forget the role played by the Internet in the evolution of the cartoon art which  on one hand, has contributed to the dissemination of this art, and led to the exchange of experiences and improve the perception of this art. In the other hand, it made it difficult to pass on the plagiarized cartoons.

 

It is very important to note the concept of inspiration or unintentional similarity in the idea of creating a theme. It is not accurate to name this similarity  plagiarism, as the theme created in the cartoon is often inspired by the stock of cultural and artistic heritage of the cartoonist, added to the things that the artist see, and these things are no different to any one, such as: hand, basketball, military aircraft or chess .. etc.. All of these things can be a powerful inspiration, and play a role in explaining the cartoon’s theme. The message may also play a certain role– as the great Romanian cartoonist Julian Pena Pai goes -.  However, the similarities in the characters shown for the idea, and distribution in the scenography assembly on one hand, and on the theme, this does not name any thing, but plagiarism.

 

Cartoon is one of the most important platform for creativity in the world; perhaps the intensity of festivals and international competitions shows the position of cartoon in the world of art and journalism. Taking into account the necessary efforts of artists interested in the establishment of committees and bodies seeking to rationalize this art, define its culture, and nurture the artists’ rights and protect their works against plagiarism, the Don Quichotte – International cartoon site formed a committee which includes a number of professional cartoonists, from different nationalities. The committee is to  follow up, give feedback and recommend on the cartoon’s issues in general. It is worth mentioning that plagiarism is still an issue of discussion by this committee.

 

Today, with the emergence of a good movement in the Arab cartoons communities, I wish to seriously consider the issue of Plagiarism and burglary away from sensitivities among Arabs. I look forward to holding theoretical dialogues to identify the fundamental differences in the structure of the cartoons, facilitate classification between cartoon inspired and other plagiarized,  formulate general recommendations, determine definitions and establish systematic principles as a  reliable reference. It seems that the investigation and searching for the largest possible number of cartoons marked as plagiarized or simulation, has an important role as this will contribute to the archiving of these cartoons and facilitating access to such art. Secondly, it will help examine each case of similarity or plagiarism to distinguish differences by representation and measurement, Thirdly, it will contribute to the reduction of the phenomenon in the future, as the archives will represent a living reference to prevent the recurrence of such similarities.