There is a treat at the bottom of my post for you Cassie Edwards [romance novelist and writer of American Indian genre] fans.
What is a plagiarist?
Literary Dictionary:
plagiarism
plagiarism [play‐jă‐rizm],
the theft of ideas (such as the plots of narrative or dramatic works)
or of written passages or works, where these are passed off as one's
own work without acknowledgement of their true origin; or a piece of
writing thus stolen. Plagiarism is not always easily separable from
imitation, adaptation, or pastiche, but is usually distinguished by its dishonest intention. A person practising this form of literary theft is a plagiarist. The older term plagiary was applied both to plagiarisms and to plagiarists.
What does the law say about plagiarism?
Law Encyclopedia:
Plagiarism
The
act of appropriating the literary composition of another author, or
excerpts, ideas, or passages therefrom, and passing the material off as
one's own creation.
Plagiarism is theft
of another person's writings or ideas. Generally, it occurs when
someone steals expressions from another author's composition and makes
them appear to be his own work. Plagiarism is not a legal term;
however, it is often used in lawsuits. Courts recognize acts of
plagiarism as violations of copyright law, specifically as the theft of another creator's intellectual property.
Because copyright law allows a variety of creative works to be
registered as the property of their owners, lawsuits alleging
plagiarism can be based on the appropriation of any form of writing,
music, and visual images.
Plagiarism can take a broad range of
forms. At its simplest and most extreme, plagiarism involves putting
one's own name on someone else's work; this is commonly seen in schools
when a student submits a paper that someone else has written. Schools,
colleges, and universities usually have explicit guidelines for
reviewing and punishing plagiarism by students and faculty members. In
copyright lawsuits, however, allegations of plagiarism are more often
based on partial theft. It is not necessary to exactly duplicate
another's work in order to infringe a copyright: it is sufficient to
take a substantial portion of the copyrighted material. Thus, for
example, plagiarism can include copying language or ideas from another
novelist, basing a new song in large part on another's musical
composition, or copying another artist's drawing or photograph.
Courts
and juries have a difficult time determining when unlawful copying has
occurred. One thing the plaintiff must show is that the alleged
plagiarist had access to the copyrighted work. Such evidence might
include a showing that the plaintiff sent the work to the defendant in
an attempt to sell it, or that the work was publicly available and
widely disseminated.
Once access is proven, the plaintiff must
show that the alleged plagiarism is based on a substantial similarity
between the two works. In Abkco Music, Inc. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd.,
722 F.2d 988 (1983), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals found
"unconscious" infringement by the musician George Harrison, whose song
"My Sweet Lord" was, by his own admission, strikingly similar to the
plaintiff's song, "He's So Fine." Establishing a substantial similarity
can be quite difficult as it is essentially a subjective process.
Not
every unauthorized taking of another's work constitutes plagiarism.
Exceptions are made under copyright law for so-called fair use, as in
the case of quoting a limited portion of a published work or mimicking
it closely for purposes of parody and satire. Furthermore, similarity
alone is not proof of plagiarism. Courts recognize that similar
creative inspiration may occur simultaneously in two or more people. In
Hollywood, for example, where well-established conventions govern
filmmaking, this conventionality often leads to similar work. As early
as 1942, in O'Rourke v. RKO Radio Pictures, 44 F. Supp. 480,
the Massachusetts District Court ruled against a screenwriter who
alleged that a movie studio had stolen parts of his unproduced
screenplay Girls' Reformatory for its film Condemned Women.
The court noted that the similar plot details in both stories— prison
riots, escapes, and love affairs between inmates and officials — might
easily be coincidental.
See: Literary Property; Music Publishing; Publishing Law.
Now for the Cassie Edwards fans...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Cassie Edwards Accused of Plagiarism.
An
article in the local newspaper recently caught my eye. Headlined
:"Romance Novelist Accused of Plagiarism," the article - where popular
romance novelist Cassie Edwards was criticised for allegedly using
other writers' material in her books without attribution - actually
stunned me.
Apparently, Cassie Edwards, the author of more than
100 novels with about 10 million copies in print, had been caught with
her hand in the cookie jar after a romance novel website, SmartBitchesTrashyBooks,
compared numerous excerpts from her novels with passages from magazines
and non-fiction books found through Google's search engine.
One
of the examples juxtaposed text from Edwards 1997 novel, Savage
Longings, with a passage from George Bird Grinell's The Cheyenne
Indians, an ethnography published in 1928. The plagiarism was startling
with the stolen passages and words standing out like an ocean beacon
shining in the dark of the night.
Worse, she has now angered the
biggest name in the romance genre : Nora Roberts, the bestselling
romance novelist whose works has sold hundreds of millions of copies. "Given
the side-by-side comparisons I've read, it seems clear Ms Edwards
copied considerably portions of previously published work and used them
in her books without attribution to the original source. By my
definition, copying another's work and passing it as your own equals
plagiarism. As a writer, a reader and a victim of plagiarism, I feel
very strongly on this issue," she told The Associated Press.
Plagiarism GuideAnd
the accusations of plagiarism seems to be growing. In an interview with
Newsweek, nature writer Paul Tolme, accused Cassie Edwards of copying
his work on the endangered black-footed ferrets in her romance novel
Shadow Bear.
What took the cake was Edwards defence. In an
interview with Associated Press, she acknowledged that she sometimes
"takes" material from reference books but did not know she was supposed to credit her sources.
Come on! A writer with at least 25 years experience not knowing basic
protocol and etiquette? Even much lesser mortals like me know the need
to first ask permission and attribute accordingly any borrowed content,
notwithstanding the doctrine of fair-use.
Having been a victim
of content theft myself, I can certainly understand the anger felt by
those whose works have been stolen by Cassie Edwards, but while
plagiarism - something that is very common and happening with
increasingly regularity in the Web - is a nasty habit that lesser
mortals like me have to live with, it has never occurred to me that it
can happen in the hallowed halls of established and published authors.
If
the accusations are true, it just goes to prove that nothing is sacred
anymore, not ethics or hard work - just instant gratification, money
and fame. The joy and pride in the efforts that are needed for any
success seem to be traits that are fast disappearing in modern society
where the incessant need for instant success without wanting to put in
the efforts required has led to an erosion of values like ethics, hard
work and integrity. That it is happening in the hallowed halls of the
literary world just makes it so much harder to accept.
*Further reading :
- Romance Novelist Accused of Copying - The New York Times.- Paul Tolme Amused by Cassie Edwards - Newsweek.- Plagiarism by BeboAuthor
Posted by
My Den
at
11:05 PM
Labels:
Cassie Edwards,
Content theft,
News from the literary world,
Nora Roberts,
Paul Tolme,
Plagiarism,
Stealing content
I have never liked Cassie Edwards as an author and I am now glad...what a disappointment that would have been if I had. tsk tsk SG
