Helpful Copyright Resources

Resources if you have been Plagiarized

First off — if you’re here? I’m sorry this has happened to you or someone you know. Second — I’m not an attorney and I don’t give legal advice. This page is an on-going WIP. I’ll be adding links to resources I think / thought are helpful.

This page is meant to be a library of links. As with any library I’m not responsible for the content in the linked articles nor do I agree with all the content in the links provided.

KEYWORDS: I’m adding keywords to these links so you can better target that which you might be looking for.

As always, talk to an attorney before you make any decisions regarding the issue you are facing. The best kind of attorney to talk to is an INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Attorney. To be clear — not someone who DABBLES in IP litigation. But an attorney who truly understands IP Litigation. This is a niche area of law.

Publishing Blogs that frequently discuss Plagiarism

David Vandagriff – The Passive Voice https://www.thepassivevoice.com/

Jonathan Bailey – Plagiarism Today https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/about-plagiarism-today/about-the-author/

Jane Friedman: https://www.janefriedman.com/blog/

Dear Author: https://dearauthor.com/

Sidebar Saturdays: https://www.sidebarsaturdays.com/

AI copyright infringement lawsuits and plagiarism resources

A compilation of articles and lawsuits that involve Artificial Intelligence / Computer software in acts of plagiarism and potential copyright infringement.

THE WRAP “A Writer used AI to Plagiarize me” Jan 18 2023 Alex Kartrowitz https://www.thewrap.com/a-writer-used-ai-to-plagiarize-me-now-what-pro-insight/

Class Action Copyright Lawsuit filed against Midjourney, Deviant Art, and Stability Jan 2023 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/class-action-filed-against-stability-ai-midjourney-and-deviantart-for-dmca-violations-right-of-publicity-violations-unlawful-competition-breach-of-tos-301721869.html?fbclid=IwAR098mhy2dtCWAP3FyjSfZab1x739bi_AZQwv9kN783PpU553kG7CSZ-k4s

ARTICLES

NYT “An Erotica Pioneer Goes from Hero to Villain for Dozens of Authors” September 2021 Keywords: Unauthorized re-writing books, Copyright, Trademark https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/business/romance-publishing-blushing-erotica.html

CBC News: Romance Ripoff August 2019 – https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/plaigiarism-in-romance-1.5220734

The Atlantic “Plagiarism in the Age of Self-Publishing” June 2016 – https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/06/plagiarism-in-the-age-of-self-publishing/485525/

The Guardian ” …Exposed as plagiarist ” 2015 Keywords: M/F romance repurposed as M/M romance. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/28/prolific-romantic-fiction-writer-exposed-as-a-plagiarist

Dear Author: “RWA Panel on Plagiarism” 2008 https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/rwa-panel-on-plagiarism/

Dear Author: “Plagiarism is a Community Issue” 2008 https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/plagiarism-is-a-community-issue/

Dear Author: “State of Plagiarism Today” 2009 https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/cross-blog-post-state-of-plagiarism-today/

Dear Author: “Fan Fiction, Plagiarism, and Copyright” 2012 Keywords: Fan Fiction, Plagiarism https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/fan-fiction-plagiarism-and-copyright/

Dear Author: “10 Tips for Plagiarists” 2007 https://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/top-10-tips-for-plagairists/

Chron “Rules for Re-writing Copyrighted Text” https://smallbusiness.chron.com/rules-rewriting-copyrighted-text-68672.html

AUTHORS WHO HAVE BEEN PLAGIARIZED

Sometimes it helps reading about someone else’s story to hear how they felt. To see how they handled it.

Ashleigh Zavarelli 2022 Keywords: Mosaic Plagiarism COMMENT: Reported to Amazon who took the offending book down. http://<iframe src=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FAZavarelli%2Fposts%2F3080981245562081&show_text=true&width=500″ width=”500″ height=”684″ style=”border:none;overflow:hidden” scrolling=”no” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”true” allow=”autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share”></iframe>

Kim Jones – 2021 https://www.facebook.com/1062060203/videos/10221530499826168/

Ayden Morgan – 2020

Kim Michelle Richardson 2019 – https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tomiobaro/jojo-moyes-the-giver-of-stars-kim-richardson-bookwoman-of

Almost Everyone v. #CopypasteCris – 2019 https://bookbinge.com/tag/copy-paste-cris/

Becky McGraw – 2015 – Becky’s re-purposer re-wrote her M/F Cowboy romance book repurposed as M/M. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/28/prolific-romantic-fiction-writer-exposed-as-a-plagiarist

Rachel Ann Nunes – 2014 Keywords: Sweeter romance repurposed as steamy romance — Comment: Ms. Nunes documents the steps along the way in her legal case. Her posts are a great play by play of the legal process. My heart goes out to her and I applaud her bravery. https://rachelannnunes.com/how-i-learned-my-novel-had-been-plagiarized/

Nora Roberts / Janet Dailey Plagiarism — FWIW: Nora Roberts should probably get her own section. She’s been fighting this battle on multiple fronts for so many years I’ve lost count. https://www.ithenticate.com/plagiarism-detection-blog/when-romance-meets-plagiarism#.YQT221NKjUo

“Plagiarism in Romantic Fiction” Caroline Kincaid 2019 https://sites.duke.edu/unsuitable/plagiarism-in-romantic-fiction/

“Shey Stahl Plagiarism Scandal” Dear Author Keywords: Plagiarism in Fan Fiction Community https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/monday-news-shey-stahl-plagiarism-scandal-goodreads-deletes-reviews-without-notice-amazon-shares-at-an-all-time-high-cosplay-copyright-and-paid-for-reviews/

Jamie McGuire – 2013 https://www.jamiemcguire.com/blog/2013/11/10/the-worst-and-best-day-of-my-career

Tamara Webber – 2013 — Dear Author: “The Plagiarizing of Tamara Webber’s Easy” https://dearauthor.com/book-reviews/the-plagiarizing-of-tammara-webbers-easy-by-jordin-williams/

SMART PEOPLE w/ Tools to battle PLAGIARISM

Claire Ryan https://claireryanauthor.com/ 2022 Update: I’m not sure if Claire Ryan is still helping authors with plagiarism. That said — she’s brilliant — and worth reaching out to her if you’re having a problem.

PLAGIARISM CHECKERS

These tools get better every year but nothing’s perfect. Find the ones that work for you.

https://www.plagscan.com/en/

LOOKING FOR/TALKING TO ATTORNEYS

The Author’s Guild https://www.authorsguild.org – I DON’T think you have to be a member to contact them for a referral — but I might be wrong.

TYPES OF PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism isn’t simply “Copy and Paste.” There are other forms of plagiarism such as ‘MOSAIC’ or ‘PATCHWORK’ plagiarism where one’s words are re-written to look a ‘little different.’

Types of Plagiarism: https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism/types-of-plagiarism/

Mosaic / Patchwork Plagiarism https://writer.com/blog/types-of-plagiarism/