CoJ Case 066

This article is part of the series:

Chamber of Justice

Cases

001 DB vs. Blade 002 DB vs. Mirei 003 DB vs. Tiberius 004 DB vs. DarkWarchief 005 DB vs. Selket 006 DB vs. Gilkane 007 DB vs. Oberst 008 DB vs. Kromtal 009 DB vs. Halc 010 DB vs. Boba nil 011 DB vs. Dismal 012 DB vs. Tissaya 013 DB vs. Bane 014 DB vs. Ashura 015 DB vs. Tissaya 016 DB vs. Jaymz 017 DB vs. Cannabisia 018 DB vs. Khobai 019 DB vs. Ricco 020 DB vs. Ricco 021 DB vs. Cornix 022 DB vs. Drepo Mcarc 023 DB vs. Jason Hunter 024 DB vs. Raidoner 025 DB vs. Sashar 026 DB vs. Androc 027 DB vs. Krandon 028 DB vs. Braecen 029 DB vs. Jalek 030 DB vs. Arack 031 DB vs. Archangel 032 DB vs. Raidoner 033 DB vs. Robin Hawk 034 DB vs. Coop Ter-an 035 DB vs. Coop Ter-an 036 DB vs. Darkone 037 DB vs. Wuntila 038 DB vs. Fremoc Pepoi 039 DB vs. Solus Gar 040 DB vs. Arden Karn 041 DB vs. Ronovi Tavisaen 042 DB vs. Delak Krennel 043 DB vs. Rayna Krennel 044 DB vs. Darkblade 045 DB vs. Chizz 046 DB vs. Shorurra 047 DB vs. Turel Sorenn 048 DB vs. Nicolai "Rod" Rodell 049 DB vs. Seraphol Ceartas 050 DB vs. Calix Iberian 051 DB vs. Drake Starfire 052 DB vs. Tyron Kesh 053 DB vs. Corell Fedt 054 DB vs. JCT 055 DB vs. Vexatus 056 DB vs. Kadrol Hauen 057 DB vs. Xanos Zorrixor 058 DB vs. Arvalis Raith 059 DB vs. Kadrol Hauen 060 DB vs. Kromtal Bloodfyre Romanae 061 DB vs. Andrelious J. Mimosa-Inahj 062 DB vs. AnthonyH 063 DB vs. Hakatsuki 064 DB vs. Soren Leonis 065 DB vs. Magik 066 DB vs. Creon 067 DB vs. Hatchi Aso-Gui Sol-Corvo 068 DB vs. Andrelious J. Inahj 069 DB vs. Aru Law 070 DB vs. Esbelta Teresa Amaral 071 DB vs. Nora Olen di Plagia

DB vs Creon, #12097 was the sixty-fifth case tried by the Chamber of Justice. The sitting Justicar was Thane Skotos, the Left Hand of Justice was Kamjin "Maverick" Lap'lamiz, and the Right Hand of Justice was Alethia Archenksova.

Basic Case Information

Defendant

• Creon, #12097

Charges

• One Count: Violation of Covenant section 7.06(o) - Plagiarism
• One Count: Violation of Covenant section 7.06(d) - Cheating and Exploitation

Verdict

• GUILTY as to all charges

Sentence

• Demotion to Equite 1;
• Disqualification from:
  • [RoS: Escalation Event Long] Multimedia - Howie Needs New Duds;
• Letter of Reprimand permanently applied to the member’s dossier;
• Strict Probation for 3 months followed by 3 months General Probation.

Related News Post

Members of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood,

The Chamber of Justice has convened and issued a verdict in the pending case of DB v. Creon. Following an investigation, Creon was charged with one count of Cheating and one count of Plagiarism.

The detailed Verdict and Justicar's Opinion for the case can be found in the PDF file linked below. Please note that the written opinion is generally found on the page after announcement of the verdict.

The verdict was as follows:

Case #066 - DB v. Creon - Opinion PDF

• One Count of Cheating: GUILTY
• One Count of Plagiarism: GUILTY
• Punishment:
  • Demotion to Equite 1;
  • Disqualification from:
    • [RoS: Escalation Event Long] Multimedia - Howie Needs New Duds;
  • Letter of Reprimand permanently applied to the member’s dossier;
  • Strict Probation for 3 months followed by 3 months General Probation.

Comments on CoJ posts are left open for positive comments and words of encouragement to a member that has just gone through this hard process. Please be kind.

Signed and sealed in Justice,

Thane "Atra" Skotos Justicar of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood

Justicar's Opinion

Facts

During the grading of [RoS: Escalation Event Long] Multimedia - Howie Needs New Duds, the Dark Council discovered that Ranger Creon submitted a graphics entry that appeared to be identical to a commissioned Pandaren Shadow Priest artwork created by the artist DeVmarine on DeviantArt. This entry was clearly recognizable and there were no attempted alterations or credit attributed.

Past entries of Creon were reviewed and found to be vaguely cited or clearly his own work in most cases, with discovery of one entry to "Exozoological Discovery" being an unaltered and unattributed copy of a token from one Devin Night's "Immortal Nights" token pack. This submission, however, took place in April of 2018 and thus fell under Cov. 7.03(c) and charges could no longer be brought. This shows that membership must always be looking at entries with a discerning eye and questioning the authenticity of entries.

The Chamber therefore charged Creon with plagiarism for submitting another’s work as his own without attribution and with cheating for its use to gain placement through dishonest use of professional grade artwork in a Vendetta level competition.

Creon responded to the charge notification with a confession, stating his understanding and lack of defence for his actions.

Analysis

As with DB v. Magik, DB 065, plagiarism in the context of Brotherhood competitions has been made clear: “Members must not submit any plagiarized work as his own. Work of others may be used in a member’s work provided that appropriate credit is given to the real author or the sections of the work that are not original are identified and disclosed.” Cov. 7.06(o). This means that you may use other's work provided it has been properly referenced in the submission. The level of effort required to meet this condition is negligible.

In this case, no effort was made in any way to meet that condition, nor was there the appearance of misunderstanding or lack of time. Unlike in Magik's case, this wasn't even a piece of work commissioned by Creon. It was an entirely outside party's commission and another's work. With this precedent and understanding set, the fact that this met the Covenant definition of plagiarism was clear.

Regarding the cheating charges, the Covenant states that "Cheating means the use of any dishonest or unfair act for the purpose of gaining an advantage." Cov. 7.06(d). Due to the nature of the competition, being a Vendetta level activity, and the available time for entry, it was deemed that the use of plagiarism was to gain an advantage in a highly competitive environment to ensure placement and reward. There was no attempt at refutation found in Creon's guilty plea.

Sentencing

Creon was extremely frank in his response to his charge notification and has no case history with the Chamber. It showed an understanding of the seriousness with which we approach such matters and that there was no question as to the error of his actions.

This, however, is a DB-wide event, and one that the club prides itself on delivering regularly to bring together all corners of the club. It is a flagship event where, as both DB 064 and DB 065 have stated, “cheating during DB-wide competitions is a more severe crime than cheating in unit-focused competitions, [and] the severity is further amplified during a vendetta.”

The Chamber has crafted a sentence that takes this into account. Demotion is the common punishment for cheating and is strongly supported by recent precedent in similar cases. Additionally, the probation period was reduced from the potential one year to six months due to the understanding shown in Creon's guilty plea. Additionally, the Chamber will permit Creon to retain whatever medals and credits he might earn from his other entries in RoS: Escalation while disqualifying him from [RoS: Escalation Event Long] Multimedia - Howie Needs New Duds.

Verily,

/s/ Thane "Atra" Skotos