Broadsheet

It's not as hard as it seems. I've inadvertently written things that are exact duplicates of my previous posts. While this probably doesn't count, it leads me to believe that I've done it with others writing, as well. Sometimes it's hard to remember if something is original or I read it somewhere in the past.

 

Someone on the CityLit board made an interesting comment when the Frey scandal was still tour de vogue, that in the music industry, people have been incorporating other musician's samples for more than a decade. Maybe if the writers paid royalties to other authors to use their stuff...but I think if you're a good writer, you should be able to say what you need to say and not plagarize anyone else. There is nothing new under the sun, except your spin on it.

That said, we live in a very permissive culture. "Facts" and "creations" are touted all the time on the Internet sans source material. Can you imagine how many students lift entire passages for their term papers off the Internet? It's surprising to me that this doesn't happen more and more.

If I were a publisher, I'd invest in a fact-checking department. Someone making fifty grand a year routing out plagarism is worth avoiding a PR nightmare in the future. I'd also be wary of young authors. For one thing, they simply haven't lived long enough to have experiences worthy of publication. Some do, but unfortunately may young authors (or even young people) haven't fully formed their opinions and value systems and consciously or unconsciously borrow from others. I mean, for a brief period in my teens I really dug Ayn Rand. It wasn't until I got older and read more and had life experiences that I rejected her vehemently. Would I really want a novel sitting around from when I was 17 extolling the virtues of Ayn Rand? No more than I'd want my arrest record from when I was sixteen disqualifying me from employment (em, no record; just making a point).

OKay, nuff babbling, 'tis Friday!

 

OK, let me be clear. I was being sarcastic about the blogosphere comment. It happens ALL the time out here and no one polices it.

Jen - you make a lot of good points (as usual). I think one of the reasons that this is coming up over and over again recently, is that the internet provides a higher level of scrutiny and allows for much faster comparisons. There is even decent anti-plagiarism software out these days for schools and publishers to test word authenticity.

That said, I completely agree with you about music. I can't count how many hundreds of times I hear a riff or melodic phrase that was either inadvertently, or blatantly taken from another piece. Often times, it is in tribute to someone else's style, but other times, it's a commercial rip-off.

PS Sorry we'll miss you Sat. night!

 

I had the pleasure to read the first chapter of the Viswanathan book. Regardless of her alleged plagiarism, the book hit a nerve with me. I grew up in one of those "Get into Harvard or Yale at all costs" families and watched my older sister, aka Jesus Christ, become the sole focus of my parent attention and the stress and pressure built up to a crescendo in her senior year of high school.

2 years ahead in math, special college classes, a private tutor, president of the student council, editor of the newspaper, editor of the yearbook, number one GPA, valedictorian, the girl wasn't allowed to look sideways without a reprimand from my dysfunctional parents. Fortunately, after my father pulled every single one of his alumni strings at Yale and much of his money, my selfish, self-absorbed, nasty bitch-c*nt of a sister was early admitted into Yale. (at which point I was no longer on speaking terms with any member of my family and to this day I still won't talk to the queen c*nt)

Regardless of the plagiarism I'm glad someone put into words the family hell that goes on all over the country and all over the world when it comes to elite-college admissions and parents that like to live vicariously through their children.