If I receive written permission to use content from a paper without citing, is it plagiarism? Let's say I find an article online. I contact the writer of this article and, without expecting anything in return, they agree to give me full, unrestricted rights to use any portion of their article, including directly using quotes from the article, without citing it. The agreement even allows me to claim the work as my own, even though it isn't.

Because I have all the rights to do this, would this be considered plagiarism?
It doesn't really matter that the author gave you "unrestricted rights to use any portion of their article" without the need of citing it. We, the readers, want to know that you're using it.


  Because I have all the rights to do this, would this be considered plagiarism?


Yes.