Albert Einstein said, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”
In Plagiary, It’s Crawling All Over Me, Joseph Epstein examines “the blurry line between a paraphrase and a lift.”
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Bob,
Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention in law school, but it seems to me the copyright, fair use, plagiarism issues were pretty easy for print media: Just study the two passages side-by-side and see if there’s a match. The 1978 Copyright Act simplified things for authors and writers. You don’t even have to register a copyright, just prove you wrote it before anybody else. Now, the Dan Brown business was under English law, which is different. Here, in America, I think it’s pretty straightforward, though I know the doctrine of fair use can require a judge or jury on occasion.
RD
ps – a good article on copyright infringement vs. plagiarism:
http://www.plagiarismchecker.com/plagiarism-vs-copyright.php
Rick, Plagiarism seems front and center these days with the Harvard sophmore Kaavya Visanathan stealing lines from Meg McCafferty, lines that weren’t necessary to steal. Then of course the Dan Brown fiasco, the saddest part of that deal was the second lawsuit brought by Scottish Author Lewis Purdue who spent his life savings taking Brown to court over the plagiarism of his 1992 novel “Daughter of God,” and lost. Does plagiarism become a David and Goliath game? He who has the most money can do whatever they want? On the other hand, is there such a thing as an original thought these days and where do you draw the line?