Band Bio copied from Wikipedia? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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kenethlevine View Drop Down

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Prog-Folk Team

Joined: December 06 2006
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Topic: Band Bio copied from Wikipedia?
Posted: November 15 2009 at 13:26

I think I've noticed that some people write their own bios on wikipedia as a sort of shameful self promotion. After all, if they are trying to impress someone and that someone sees them on wiki, they might be impressed
Tongue

Vibrationbaby View Drop Down

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Joined: February 13 2004
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Posted: November 08 2009 at 10:52

Henry Plainview wrote:

Logan wrote:

Yeah, well Neal Morse's bio was lifted from his website so one can't expect objectivity.

Back when this site was first being built, I believe that the common practice was to lift from other sources without proper accreditation (or any in many cases).

This just gets worse and worse. Am I the only one who hates plagiarizing? There is no excuse for any of this.

No you're not the only one. I've had tons of my stuff ripped off from this site. Both from reviews and bios. Why can't these monkeys think up their own sh*t. What's the point of just copying something that came out of another person's head. You could get kicked out of university for plagarism for Christ sakes but in the real world it doesn' t seem to apply. Mabye all these monkeys got kicked out of university.

I also write about aviation topics and just for a joke I go to Wikipedia. I can't believe all the errors. It seems that if someone writing for Wikipedia doesn't know a specific fact they'll just go and make it up. I just came across a review here on PA yesterday that was copied partially from a band's Myspace page. I dunno.

NotAProghead View Drop Down

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Posted: November 08 2009 at 02:22

^ That's true, somebody have to say we have a problem.

Who are you and who am I to say we know the reason why... (D. Gilmour)

Henry Plainview View Drop Down

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Joined: May 26 2008
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Posted: November 08 2009 at 00:02

NotAProghead wrote:

Henry Plainview wrote:

This just gets worse and worse. Am I the only one who hates plagiarizing? There is no excuse for any of this.

Would you like to offer something more constructive? For example re-write some plagiarized bios.

I don't know a damn thing about Neal Morse, why would I do that?

I think commenting on a problem is constructive enough. Sometimes things don't get done unless somebody screams. ;-)

Sean Trane View Drop Down

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Prog Folk

Joined: April 29 2004
Location: Heart of Europe
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Points: 20436

Posted: November 07 2009 at 20:32

Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:

When we took Symphonic, we found more than 100 plagiarized bios.

We deleted all and made them again, because we believe that if we are N| 1 sitte, we must be original.

Now, in some cases I asked the band members to write a bio and they sent one previously used, but in this case we can't do anything, because the author is credited and is a band member.

Iván

Ideally we should heve our own bios.... but it's simpler said than done.

Personally I don't have much a prpblem with Wiki or artistes site bios as long as they are dully credited .....

Bios coming from another source should be not only dully accredited burt also the permission asked.

let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword

progkidjoel View Drop Down

Prog Reviewer

Joined: March 02 2009
Location: Australia
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Points: 19643

Posted: November 07 2009 at 15:55

You can't rush art

Do we have an easy way to find other bios which have been plagiarised?

Atavachron View Drop Down

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Posted: November 07 2009 at 14:50

nice bio pkj, but it took you well over 20 minutes to post it so I'm afraid it won't be going up, sorry

that's a little joke

progkidjoel View Drop Down

Prog Reviewer

Joined: March 02 2009
Location: Australia
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Points: 19643

Posted: November 07 2009 at 05:54

Not particularly

Thanks for adding it Easy Money

Problem resolved everyone?

Easy Money View Drop Down

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Posted: November 07 2009 at 05:19

Thanks Joel

...um..., they're not real easy on the eyes, are they? ha, ha

Edited by Easy Money - November 07 2009 at 05:28

progkidjoel View Drop Down

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Joined: March 02 2009
Location: Australia
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Points: 19643

Posted: November 07 2009 at 05:12

Shadow Gallery biography:

Shadow Gallery is a progressive metal band, which formed in Pennsylvania (USA) in the 1980's, originally under the name "Sorcerer". After changing their name to Shadow Gallery, the band recorded an 8-track demo, which helped them sign to Magna Carta Records in 1991. The band released their first proper EP of tracks a year later, with copies being sold in Europe and Japan aswell.

In late 1993, the band recruited a new musician to their course - Keyboardist and guitarist Gary Wehrkamp, and in 1994, added another virtuoso to their palette, drummer Kevin Soffera.
In 1995, the band released their second proper studio recording: CARVED IN STONE.
Shortly after, Shadow Gallery released another full length recording, titled TYRANNY (1998). This is a concept album, concerning itself deeply with politics. This album also features a guest appearance from vocalist James LaBrie (DREAM THEATER).

To follow up their latest hit, the band released LEGACY in 2001. Many fans consider this to be a marked change, displaying a more progressive, technical and focussed Shadow Gallery. This was the band's last recording under Magna Carta Records. This album also features many tracks with a more commercial taste, and although released between to concept records, stands as a collection of songs.

In 2005, the band returned with ROOM V, another concept record made to pick up where Tyranny's narrative left off. Many consider this album to be the band's ultimate success, only challenged by their 2009 release, DIGITAL GHOSTS. ROOM V also featured more guest work, mainly in the form of Arjen Lucassen (AYREON) on vocals for sections, and also contributing a guitar solo.

The band followed up their dark concept record with 2009's DIGITAL GHOSTS, another smash hit amongst metal fans. Many consider this to be their best album, and this also features a new member, vocalist Brian Ashland. This album blends symphonic rock, metal and progressive technical metal seemlessly.

Shadow Gallery can easily be enjoyed by any (prog) metal fan, and is one of the best prog acts of the decade.

Current Lineup:

Gary Wehrkamp - Piano, guitars, keyboards, vocals
Brendt Allman - Guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals
Carl Cadden-James - Bass, vocals, flute, fretless bass
Chris Ingles - Piano, keyboards
Joe Nevolo - Drums
Brian Ashland - Vocals

Former members:
Mike Baker - Vocals
Kevin Soffera - Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:
-SHADOW GALLERY - 1992
-CARVED IN STONE - 1995
-TYRANNY - 1998
-LEGACY - 2001
-ROOM V - 2005
-DIGITAL GHOSTS - 2009

Shadow Gallery official website - http://www.shadowgallery.com/

(Biography by Joel G, Australia)

Hope thats good enough - Couple of details missing, but I was working solely from the band's homepage biography.

progkidjoel View Drop Down

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Joined: March 02 2009
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Points: 19643

Posted: November 07 2009 at 04:47

Alrighty, I'll give re-writing this one a crack then!

Check back here for another post from me in 5 to 10 minutes.

Easy Money View Drop Down

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Posted: November 07 2009 at 04:33

NotAProghead wrote:

Henry Plainview wrote:

This just gets worse and worse. Am I the only one who hates plagiarizing? There is no excuse for any of this.

Would you like to offer something more constructive? For example re-write some plagiarized bios.

For real, anyone can help fix our bios. If you see a plagirized bio that needs to be replaced, please write an original bio and send it to me and said plagarized bio will be replaced, pronto.

NotAProghead View Drop Down

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Errors & Omissions Team

Joined: October 22 2005
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Posted: November 06 2009 at 23:45

Henry Plainview wrote:

This just gets worse and worse. Am I the only one who hates plagiarizing? There is no excuse for any of this.

Would you like to offer something more constructive? For example re-write some plagiarized bios.

Who are you and who am I to say we know the reason why... (D. Gilmour)

Henry Plainview View Drop Down

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Joined: May 26 2008
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Status: Offline
Points: 16715

Posted: November 06 2009 at 21:45

The funny thing is that it's from 2004, so it's not even up to date promotional material on an objective resource!

if you own a sodastream i hate you

Logan

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Posted: November 06 2009 at 21:23

Henry Plainview wrote:

This just gets worse and worse. Am I the only one who hates plagiarizing? There is no excuse for any of this.

You're not the only one who loathes plagiarism. I do too. At the very least, the source should have been cited. If Morse had been asked if it could be used, then it should have said that it was copied from his website with his permission.

Henry Plainview View Drop Down

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Joined: May 26 2008
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Posted: November 06 2009 at 19:04

This just gets worse and worse. Am I the only one who hates plagiarizing? There is no excuse for any of this.

if you own a sodastream i hate you

Easy Money View Drop Down

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Posted: November 06 2009 at 18:18

From what I understand, PA prefers that we write our own bios, if you qoute someone else, then give proper credit.
Someone might want to steer Bob to this thread to make sure on this.

harmonium.ro View Drop Down

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Posted: November 06 2009 at 17:17

It's perfectly legal to take information from Wikipedia while crediting the source. Here is what says on Wikipedia about the licensing of their content:

"All text in Wikipedia was covered by GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), a copyleft license permitting the redistribution, creation of derivative works, and commercial use of content while authors retain copyright of their work,^[130] up until June 2009, when the site switched to Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-by-SA) 3.0.^[131]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia#License_and_language_editions

Creative Commons are different than copyright. This is what that particular kind of license means:

You are free:

to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to Remix — to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:

Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

Attribute this work:
< id="work-attribution" value="" readonly="readonly" ="." =".'work-attribution'.;" ="text"> < id="license-code" value="CC BY-SA 3.0" =""> < id="license-" value="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/" ="">

What does "Attribute this work" mean?

The page you came from contained embedded licensing metadata, including how the creator wishes to be attributed for re-use. You can use the HTML here to cite the work. Doing so will also include metadata on your page so that others can find the original work as well.
Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same, similar or a compatible license.

This is also important:

Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Logan

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Posted: November 06 2009 at 15:17

Yeah, well Neal Morse's bio was lifted from his website so one can't expect objectivity.

Back when this site was first being built, I believe that the common practice was to lift from other sources without proper accreditation (or any in many cases). It was a way to quickly build up the site, and this is before building up a sizable volunteer base. From what I think, once the volunteers were in place, then the standards became stricter. Now there are many volunteers to work on the site and there are quite high expectations for the work they submit.

Ivan_Melgar_M View Drop Down

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Posted: November 06 2009 at 15:12

When we took Symphonic, we found more than 100 plagiarized bios.

We deleted all and made them again, because we believe that if we are N| 1 sitte, we must be original.

Now, in some cases I asked the band members to write a bio and they sent one previously used, but in this case we can't do anything, because the author is credited and is a band member.

Iván