Firstly, articles etc. posted on the web do have copyright protection, even if they do not display the copyright notice. There are exceptions to this, but generally this is the rule.
Plagiarism is paramount to stealing. It is IP Theft i.e. Intellectual Property Theft. I believe that permission should be requested if we want to publish something in full that another person has written. Nothing should be copied in it's entirety without approval.
There is, however, something known as fair use which I am sure we are all happy with. This is whereby other bloggers can use excerpts from a post or article, when it is relative to what they are writing about. Again, it must be stressed, this does not extend to using the whole of a post or article.
When using excerpts bloggers should give credit, where credit is due, and a link should be made to the permalink of the post and not to the blogs's main page.
It's really just a matter of etiquette and good manners.
My Brazilian friend Julio wrote a useful article on this subject, a while back, titled What to do when someone steals your content.
If any bloggers need content, and can't be bothered to write it themselves, there is plenty to be had on such websites as Go Articles and Ezine Articles - but follow the rules.
Think I must have got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning!
Good luck,
Mike.
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