A. Our copyright
The word “plagiarism” is a heavy word, and when it gets in the news, it can even get rather ugly. I was very active in academic publications (over 400), where plagiarism was indeed a very serious topic. One of our very significant publications, at least to us, reported the positive relationship of vitamin D in the blood, to measured sunshine exposure, in children, the very first study in the world, as far as we know. In academia, investigators often think highly of any so-called “first study,” and we were very happy that the study was published, in a fine clinical research journal.

A. 我们的版权
“抄袭剽窃”是很沉重的一个词，而在新闻里出现的时候，甚至可能会显得比较丑陋。我以前发表过很多学术文章（超过400篇），其中剽窃确实一个非常严肃的话题。我们曾经发表过一篇至少我们自己认为最重要的文章之一，是有关儿童血液中的维生素D与所接受的阳光照射量之间有正向关系的研究。据我们所知这也是全球第一次进行这类的研究。在学术界，调查员通常对任何所谓“首次研究”的评价都会很高，而我们的报告得以在一份高级的医疗研究期刊中发表，这令我们非常高兴。

However, I was quite surprised, a decade or so later, to see a diagram in another journal, that exactly replicated this same relationship, using even the same graph we published. Every graphic dot we had earlier reported, was re-published, all under another author’s name (which I remember rather vividly)! I wrote a note to the primary author of our own paper, who had moved away from our institution, but to my surprise, she just blew it off, I guess because she had more important things to do than complain! I always thought it was strange to ignore this overt plagiarism, but I guess it’s all in the literature, and one could say that the truth is obvious anyway, who wrote what, at what times.

然而，十几年之后，我在另一份期刊上看到了一张示意图，不仅完全复制了我们研究结果所显示的相关性，甚至使用了我们发表过的那一张图形，这令我相当的惊讶。我们报告中的图表上的每一个点被重新发表并且署上了另一个作者的名字（我很清楚地记得那个名字）！当时，我们自己文章的第一作者已经离开了我们医院，我将此事告诉了她，但令我惊讶的是，她毫不在意。我猜这可能是因为她有比投诉更重要的事情要做！我一直想，对如此明显的剽窃视而不见有些奇怪，但至少这一切都记录在文献中：无论如何，我们可以说真相是显而易见的，很容易查出谁在什么时候发表了什么。

Let me just make sure we are on the same page, in terms of definition of plagiarism. “Plagiarize,” from Bing dictionary: take (the work or an idea of someone else) and pass it off as one’s own. As in “he was fined $6,000 for having plagiarized the song.” Synonyms: copy · pass off as one’s own · infringe the copyright of · pirate · steal · poach · borrow · appropriate · rip off · lift · crib · pinch · nick.

首先，我想我们对抄袭剽窃的定义需要有一个共识。按照必应词典（英：Bing dictionary）的定义，“抄袭剽窃”为：拿（别人的作品或想法）并当作自己的。例如：“他抄袭了那首歌曲，受到6000美元的罚款”。同义词有：复制、冒充为自己所拥有的、侵犯版权、盗版、偷窃、窃取、借用、占用、偷等。

That should help us define the problem.

这应该能帮助我们定义这个问题。

B. Public copyrights
If you were a celebrity, and always in the news, any plagiarism that is exposed can become a significant scandal. I remember the plagiarisms discovered in writings of the very famous Jane Goodall, who studied African apes for most of her life, and even President Obama. For a while it was prominent in the news, but in the context of world news, plagiarism scandals are soon forgotten. We can just Google the information, to find now forgotten stories that were quite clearly documented, but memories might not last too long. In fact, sometimes it seems like, in celebrity news, scandals could even cause, temporarily, more celebrity fame, more interesting news, and even greater book sales!

B. 公共版权
假如你是一名常在新闻里出现的明星，任何被曝光的剽窃事件都可能会成为一个重大的丑闻。我记得，当花费了大半辈子时间致力于非洲猿研究的著名的珍·古道尔（英：Jane Goodall）的文章被发现有剽窃嫌疑之事，甚至奥巴马总统也有过。这些新闻会占据一段时间新闻的头条，可是在国际新闻里抄袭的丑闻很快被人遗忘。我们可以用谷歌搜索这些信息，找到已经被遗忘的相关事件的清楚记载，只不过这些事情在人们的记忆里也未必能留下多久。实际上，有时候明星新闻里的丑闻好像暂时可以引起更大的名气、更有趣的新闻、还有更大的书籍销量！

On a more somber note, occasionally you see pastors being charged with plagiarism. I think that, because they have to preach every Sunday, and pull materials from many sources, they might forget or overlook what portion of the talk is actually from another author, and what part of the talk is from themselves. And, when they put materials together to write a book or article, often based on previous talks, it’s easy, or convenient, or “sloppy” to forget to attribute the source. Of course, you could say that I’m just trying to be charitable. But it really is sad to see very effective preacher-authors who have to resign their ministries because of these mistakes. In fact, right here in Seattle, a well-known and excellent preacher had to do just that, and it caused great turmoil and division in his church.

一个更严肃的话题是，偶尔你会看到牧师受到抄袭的指控。我想，这是因为他们每周日都要讲道，需要从很多资源中采集资料，他们可能会忘记或疏忽讲道的哪一部分来自另一个作者，哪一部分是自己的。而且，当他们把以前的讲道资料整理成文章或书的时候，忘记指出信息来源是很容易发生的，很省事，或者说很“草率”的。当然，你也可以认为，我只是对他们尽量宽容一些。可是，看到很有影响力的作为作者的牧师因为这些过失而必须退出自己的侍奉时，真的很令人难过。其实，在西雅图，就有一位既有名又优秀的牧师不得不这样做，而这在他的教会中造成了非常大的动荡和分歧。

Especially over the last few decades, people are more aware of this issue, and so even when hymns are sung at church, using projected songs on the screen, one cannot just use the writer’s hymn or song, without asking for some kind of (usually blanket) “permission.” In the “good old days,” we might have “just borrowed,” or I guess plagiarized the song, without actually thinking about its source, it’s original authorship. And of course, we recognize that there are many versions of even the Bible, which now have to be acknowledged before directly quoting from it! Again, who would have thought in the old days that you would have to seriously acknowledge the specific version of the Bible! So that we don’t “infringe on someone’s copyright.”

尤其在过去几十年里，人们对这个问题更加敏感了，导致即使在教堂里唱歌时，若是要将诗歌投影放在银幕上，也不能没有经过某种（通常是很笼统的）“授权”而直接拿来用。在“过去的美好日子里”，我们可能会“简单借一下”，或者说抄袭那首歌，并没有考虑到它的来源和原著者。当然，我们也意识到甚至《圣经》有很多版本，现在要直接引用的话，也需要指出来源！在过去，谁会想到引用《圣经》时需要准确地指出所用的版本呢！就为了免得我们“侵犯别人的版权”。

C. What copyrights?
All this is however in great contrast to the ease with which information is widely available on the Internet, say on Facebook and Instagram, from which pictures and information can be freely copied and sent all over the world, without necessarily anyone’s permission.

C. 什么版权？
然而，这一切与互联网上广泛而方便使用的信息形成了巨大的反差。像脸书（Facebook）和Instagram上的图和信息都可以尽情地被复制而发到世界各地，不一定需要任何人的许可。

And many governments, especially those who are very restrictive, now readily copy your basic life information including photographs of you, whenever you pass official checkpoints, like at immigration and border outposts. Of course, nobody asks for your permission to do this, and it’s surprisingly well accepted. Copyright issues don’t seem to be relevant, somehow. Or maybe there is no choice anyway! Even hotels in many countries just glibly copy your passport information, in the back room behind the receptionist desk, without ever telling you. No-one ever breathes the word “copyright.” And you can be sure the governments behind these hotels keep a tab on all this!

还有很多国家的政府，尤其那些限制性比较强的国家，在你过境的时候很容易就可以把包括个人照片在内的基本身份信息保存下来。当然，没有人会征求你的允许，而大家竟然也都乐意接受。不知什么原因，版权的问题在这时好像不太重要。或者说，可能本来就别无选择！在很多国家，连宾馆也会毫不犹豫地把你的护照拿到前台后面的房间里去复印，而根本不会告诉你。没有一个人会吐出“版权”这个词。而且，这些宾馆上面的政府机构肯定密切关注这一切！

D. Copyright stories
As I was writing my “Coffee with Uncle Reggie” books, I came to realize that some pictures that I took off the Internet, were strictly speaking, not supposed to be just reprinted. So, I had to use tools such as Google Safe Search or Pixa, in order to find pictures that allowed copies to be freely reprinted. In the past, when I wrote many scientific articles, I was well aware of the need for specific citations of other articles, which might number in the hundreds for a scientific article. But I didn’t really fully realize, at first, that Internet pictures, though widely available in public, also had (not totally clear) rules about copying them for publication! But now I know better, and my publisher makes sure to remind me!

D. 版权故事
当我写《与曾叔叔闲聊》的时候我开始意识到，严格来说的话，我从网上拿下来的部分图是不应该直接转载的。所以，为了能找到可以免费转载的图，我只好用谷歌安全搜索或Pixa之类的工具。我以前写过大量的科学文章，完全了解对其它文章的引用是必不可少的，而一篇科学文章中所引用的文章数量可达数百个。可是，我一开始没有完全意识到，网上的图虽然可以公开使用，但也有出版借用相关的规定（尽管还不是非常明确）！不过，现在我了解得更多，而我的出版人也不会忘记提醒我！

Further, all this is really a reminder to us that when any original news is transmitted, there indeed might be also a problem of distortion of the original, just like in the famous trick of whispering a message in your ear, to transmit a message to a series of persons down the line. Thus, ideally, for serious information, it seems quite important to check out an original reference if possible. Any reproduction closer in time or sequence to the original is usually considered more reliable, and reduces any transmission error. This obviously is important especially in hand copied historical documents, such as scripture texts.

更深一层而言，这一切其实也提醒我们，在传播任何原始新闻的时候，的确可能存在原文被歪曲的问题。就像人人都知道的传话游戏一样，一群人通过耳语把信息一个个连续传达下去。所以，对严肃的信息而言，理想情况下，尽量找到原始信息来源很重要。在时间上或顺序上接近原版的复制品通常被认为更加可靠，而且信息传递中出现的错误相对更少。很明显，这尤其对通过人工抄写来复制的历史文件，比如经文等文件而言很重要。

Jesus is acclaimed by many, especially the one third of the world who are Christians, as the greatest teacher ever; and even by the 25 percent of the world that are Islamic, as one of the world’s 5 greatest teachers. One of the hallmarks of his teaching was His frequent use of stories that related to common people of the day. People could readily understand his stories, and therefore the messages, often remembering even the details of his stories. An effective form of communicating for all cultures. And, ideally, stories can be re-told, or loosely speaking, even well plagiarized, again and again.

耶稣被许多人誉为史上最伟大的老师，尤其是对占全世界人口三分之一的基督徒而言；甚至对占世界人口25%的伊斯兰教徒来说，他被认为是全球五位最伟大的老师之一。他教导的一个特点是，他经常使用跟老百姓生活息息相关的故事。人们很容易听懂这些故事，因而理解其中的信息，甚至可以记住他故事中的很多细节。对所有的文化来说，这是非常有效的沟通形式。而且，故事可以被复述，或者不严格地说，甚至是一遍又一遍地被很完美地抄袭。

Just try telling a story to a child, with detailed descriptions of the characters and plot, and you will be surprised that usually the child can repeat the story, detail by detail, to you again. And, if you repeat the story but mess up the details, she might even correct you. A child can be a stickler for accuracy, just like a detective, or true scholar! Also, how many times have you yourself sat in a church, but forgot the message, yet remembered a story in some detail. That’s actually a very strong reason for my telling stories of real lives, since they might have direct implications for life, and even be better remembered.

如果你尝试给小孩子讲一篇故事，包括人物和剧情的详细描述，你会很惊讶地发现：一般孩子能一个个细节地给你重新叙述整个故事。还有，如果你自己复述的时候把细节搞错的话，她甚至可能会纠正你。有时候孩子很会讲究准确度，就像侦探或者真正的学者一般！而且，你自己肯定有不少次听完一场演讲，忘记了信息却记住了故事的部分细节。这其实就是我喜欢讲述与真实生活有关的故事的很大原因，因为它们能够直接影响一个人的生活，也更容易让人记住。

And in today’s world, with the Internet, in theory, my articles and stories might be around for a while, traveling around and around, as others might send it anywhere, “virally,” which is a polite way of saying “plagiarized quickly.” A good virus, a good plagiary. And, who knows where the stories end up! So, go ahead and “plagiarize” my stories, tell them again and again, and I will be so pleased! Permission granted! With or without attribution of source! I will assume your good intentions, to encourage others, for which I thank you… Just be good to my Uncle Reggie Stories…

而且，在当今的有互联网的世界，理论上我的文章和故事可能会留下来一段时间，一圈又一圈地被人转发，或许让它们火起来。这就是“迅速被抄袭”的礼貌说法：抄得好，火得快。谁知道这些故事最后会传到哪里！所以，你也来“抄袭”我的故事吧，一遍一遍地讲述，我会非常高兴！我已授予引用权限！无论有没有来源引用！我会假定你的用意是好的，为了鼓励他人，我会因此而感谢你…… 只要你对我的曾叔叔故事“仁慈点”就行……