Plagiarism

I couldn’t agree more, Eric. As you know, my work has been plagiarized several times (in one case, an entire biography on my website – purely original and researched over 20 years – was reprinted in a magazine by another, and nearly word-for-word. I was livid, and got a public apology on the next issue’s front page by both the publisher and “author.”) Besides the legalities, plagiarism in all it’s forms is nothing short of blatant theft. There seems such a demand today for the “next big thing” that some scholars and authors seem to see nothing wrong with it. In my opinion, such dregs must be predisposed to it. I know you don’t have it in you, could never consider it, and neither do I. But there are folks out there cut from a different cloth, and I’m happy as hell when they get exposed. They deserve no less – and they deserve no payment either.

J.D.

Dear Eric,
What was it that Ambrose Bierce wrote in his The Devil’s Dictionary? Something to the effect that originality consists in forgetting where you read something. Apparently, given your reference to Goodwin in the above “Rant”, quoting from one person without giving proper credit is called plagiarism; quoting from several sources without giving proper credit is called scholarship.
Keep footnoting, friend. Perhaps others will follow your foot prints on the path to honesty.

Yours for reading the small print,
Lanny

P.S. I hate to tell you what Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary says about lawyers.

Sadly, I think it’s also significant that she’s a college student. I find myself at the end of every semester now dealing with a case or two of plagiarism, including graduating seniors who don’t graduate. I find it gut-wrenching. I also spend lot of extra time fooling with e-copies of papers, running them through the Turnitit.com anti-plagiarism site, as well as good old library checking. Some students confess, some argue, some cry, but few see that they did anything wrong other than break a “meaningless” rule. It’s discouraging.

What probably hurts even more than one stealing your words, is when another steals your interpretations. It would be one thing to use a few sentences from something I wrote and to claim it’s original to another. But in the instance of an article (and longer original submission) of a Federal cavalry commander – Eric, you know of whom I speak – I spent decades drawing out biographical and career information on a very obscure individual and then formulated new interpretations on why this commander acted as he did. Then, curiously, shortly thereafter, another author published an article that had nearly the identical information and interpretations. After having found out that this other author got a copy of my (footnoted) submission a few months before they submitted theirs, it became a no-brainer to figure out what happened.
All I could think about was the years I’d spent thinking about the subject matter and formulating these intepretations based on all the obscure material I’d dug up over a couple decades. Then, this other writer takes a few days or weeks and simply regurgitates them and is hailed by some, I would assume, as a “great researcher” on this particular individual. As I said, it was worse than just someone using a few of my sentences. Ideas were stolen. Ideas are the intangible, the mental power inside of you that you develop only through self-effort.
It’s the worst theft of all. If there were indeed hangings for this sort of thing, I’d get a full-time job tying knots.

J.D.

Way back when there was an ethical morality in this country – and ‘Western Civilization’ in general – that ‘preached’ (and meant) the virtues INCLUDING honesty and determined that, in fact, there WERE ‘moral absolutes’ – things that were always good/right and evil/wrong – such actions not only wouldn’t be tolerated, but they probably would not have even been considered except by the most depraved of individuals. Remember all those stories about Washington and Lincoln and their honesty even when no one would have known had they been LESS honest (nevermind DIShonest)? Do you remember the understanding of character to mean doing what was right even if no one ever knew? Does anyone recall the applause of the people for those who made sacrifices against their own self-interest and the scorn ladened upon those who cheated and betrayed the public trust?

Well, friends, those days are gone forever and plagerism is only one small ‘gem’ in a wretched cultural crown that lauds ‘winners’ (by whatever means they won) and sees those who struggle to live moral lives as fools and losers. I am reminded of the line from the song in Camelot said by Mordred, Arthur’s bastard son, “It’s not the EARTH, the meek inherit, IT’S THE DIRT!” That is the culture today. We praise those who succeed even if they had to break the law and cheat to do so. In fact, the only REAL ‘sin’ is getting caught like Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi. Want to bet that the ‘records’ of men like Bonds will remain in the books and not even receive an ‘asterisk’ denoting the means by which they were achieved? How far a cry is this from the reaction of the American public to the Black Sox scandal?

I’m afraid that plagerism is only a symptom of a much greater ill, an ill that will not be cured as long as we as a culture are not ready to admit that we’re sick.

V. P.

there is one more thing why do u stew on the past how long ago was it now? there are new fish to fry m8 have fun 🙂