I want to apologize for using your lessons without giving credit
Question:
Good morning,
I have used some of your sermon outlines and it was pointed out to me that I was not giving the authors of the sermons credit. I sometimes tweak them and sometimes have just followed the outline. I have been accused of plagiarism for doing this. That was not my intention. I have addressed this and apologized for not always mentioning where I got the information from, but I felt that maybe I needed to inform you so there is no longer contention about the issue. I had no intention to plagiarize or be misleading, I just don't always think about things as I should.
Thank you for the information that you provide and if I use your information in the future, I will make sure that I give credit where credit is due and ask permission from you if need be.
Thank you.
Answer:
Sermons will never be totally original since good sermons are based on the Scriptures. Sermons help us better understand what the Scriptures present and help us figure out how to apply the teachings in the Bible to our everyday lives.
Coming up with ideas to teach about is difficult on a continual basis. Some of my lessons are written from scratch but most start with a nugget of an idea, such as from a secular article or something written by one of the brethren. I collect articles on various topics and have two filing cabinets full of tidbits of ideas. Thus, I might decide I need a lesson on friendships. I will pull my "Friends" folder and go through the past ideas and lessons. From there I will put together a mashup of ideas along with additional scriptures and thoughts that I have to create a new lesson.
There are times when I find someone's article or lesson to be just what needs to be taught in this congregation. If I use it wholly (extremely rare), I will mark on my copy who is the original author and I will mention during the presentation whose ideas I'm presenting. Far more often I'll rearrange the flow to suit my style and add some passages that I think might give further clarification. In those cases, I'll mark at the bottom of my notes that this lesson was based on another person's article or lesson and I'll give the citation.
I've never been bothered by other people using what I've written. Politeness and honesty do require that a preacher does not take personal credit for the efforts of another. Thus, you will find that at the bottom of every page on La Vista's website there is a statement: "Permission is given in advance to use the material and pictures on this site for non-commercial purposes. We only ask that you give credit to the original creators." The only time I would like to be asked about using any of my material is when a person plans to sell something I have done.
