Editing Plagiarism

<del>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</del>

'''Plagiarism''' (from Latin ''plagiare'' "to kidnap") is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship or incorporating material from someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one's own without adequate acknowledgement. Unlike cases of [[forgery]], in which the authenticity of the writing, document, or some other kind of object, itself is in question, plagiarism is concerned with the issue of false attribution.  Plagiarism can also occur unconsciously; in some cultures certain forms of plagiarism are accepted because the concept can be interpreted differently.   

Within [[academia]], plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered [[academic dishonesty]] or [[academic fraud]] and offenders are subject to academic censure.  In [[journalism]], plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics, and reporters caught [[journalism scandal|plagiarizing]] typically face disciplinary measures ranging from suspension to termination. Some individuals caught plagiarizing in academic or journalistic contexts claim that they plagiarized unintentionally, by failing to include [[quotation]]s or give the appropriate [[citation]]. While plagiarism in scholarship and journalism has a centuries-old history, the development of the [[Internet]], where articles appear as electronic text, has made the physical act of copying the work of others much easier, simply by copying and pasting text from one web page to another. 

Plagiarism is different from [[copyright infringement]]. While both terms may apply to a particular act, they emphasize different aspects of the transgression. Copyright infringement is a violation of the rights of the copyright holder, when material is used without the copyright holder's consent. On the other hand, plagiarism is concerned with the unearned increment to the plagiarizing author's [[reputation]] that is achieved through false claims of authorship.

{{original research}}

Both plagiarism and copyright infringement are concepts that vary by culture. In Western thought, both are viewed negatively by many. Some people assert that this is due to the relative affluence of these nations and the monopoly they hold on information. In many other cultures, plagiarism and copyright infringement are seen as either a product of necessity, or the most expedient means to an end.

== Sanctions ==

=== Academia ===

In the academic world, plagiarism by students is a very serious offense that can result in punishments such as a failing grade on the particular assignment (typically at the high school level) or a failing grade for the course (typically at the college or university level). For cases of repeated plagiarism, or for cases where a student has committed a severe type of plagiarism (e.g., copying an entire article and submitting it as their own work), a student may be suspended or expelled, and any academic degrees or awards may be revoked. 

Repetition in student projects or paper topics between academic terms and years provides students with ample resources from which to plagiarize. Many students feel pressured to get papers done well and quickly, and with the accessibility of new technology (The Internet) it is quite possible for students to plagiarize by copying and pasting information from another source. This type of plagiarism is often easily detected by teachers, for several reasons. First, students' choice of sources is frequently unoriginal as well; instructors may receive the same passage copied from a popular source (such as [[Wikipedia]]) from several students. Second, it is often easy to tell whether or not a student is using his or her own "voice." Third, students may choose sources which are inappropriate, off-topic, or even wrong. Fourth, many universities now use plagiarism detection software.<ref>Some students still send plagiarized papers to plagiarism detectors. http://www.nysun.com/article/56158, http://individual.utoronto.ca/alex_klein/PublicPhil.htm</ref>

There is little academic research into the frequency of plagiarism in high schools, because much of the research has investigated plagiarism at the post-secondary level.<ref>http://www.ejel.org/volume-2/vol2-issue1/issue1-art25.htm research</ref> Of the forms of cheating (including plagiarism, inventing data, and cheating during an exam), students admit to plagiarism more than any other. However, this figure decreases considerably when students are asked about the frequency of "serious" plagiarism (such as copying most of an assignment or purchasing a complete paper from a website).  Recent use of plagiarism detection software (see below) has given a more accurate picture of this activity's prevalence.

For professors and researchers, plagiarism is punished by sanctions ranging from suspension to termination, along with the loss of credibility and integrity. Charges of plagiarism against students and professors are typically heard by internal disciplinary committees, which students and professors have agreed to be bound by.

=== Journalism ===

Since journalism's main currency is public trust, a reporter's failure to honestly acknowledge their sources undercuts a newspaper or television news show's integrity and undermines its credibility. Journalists accused of plagiarism are often suspended from their reporting tasks while the charges are being looked into by the news organization.

The ease in copying electronic text from the Internet has lured a number of reporters into acts of plagiarism; column writers have been caught 'copying and pasting' articles and text from a number of websites, including Wikipedia.

=== Online Plagiarism ===

Since it is very easy to steal content from the web by simply copying and pasting, the problem of online plagiarism is growing. This phenomenon, also known as content scraping, is affecting both established sites <ref>Authorship gets lost on Web. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-07-31-net-plagiarism_x.htm?POE=TECISVA</ref> and blogs <ref>Online plagiarism strikes blog world. http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/05/08/online_plagiarism_strikes_blog_world/</ref>. The motivation is often to attract away part or all of the original site's [[search engine]]-generated [[web traffic]] and to convert these stolen visitors into revenue through the use of [[Online_ad|online ads]].

Free online tools are becoming available to detect and prevent plagiarism <ref>http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-5663303-7.html, http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2005/08/30/copyscape-searches-for-scraped-content</ref>, and there are a range of approaches that attempt to limit online copying, such as [[Disabled_Right_Click|disabling right clicking]] and placing warning banners against plagiarism on web pages. Once identified, instances of plagiarism are commonly addressed by the rightful content owners sending a [[DMCA]] removal notice to the offending site-owner, or to the [[ISP]] that is hosting the offending site.

=== Other contexts ===

Generally, although plagiarism is often loosely referred to as theft or stealing, it has not been set as a criminal matter in the courts.<ref>http://faculty.law.lsu.edu/stuartgreen/pdf/j-green2.pdf  Stuart Green</ref> Likewise, plagiarism has no standing as a ''[[crime|criminal]]'' offense in the [[common law]]. Instead, claims of plagiarism are a [[Civil law (common law)|civil law]] matter, which an aggrieved person can resolve by launching a lawsuit. Acts that may constitute plagiarism are in some instances treated as [[copyright infringement]], [[unfair competition]], or a violation of the doctrine of [[moral rights]].  The increased availability of intellectual property due to a rise in technology has furthered the debate as to whether copyright offences are criminal.

== Self-plagiarism ==

'''Self-plagiarism''' is the reuse of significant, identical, or nearly identical portions of one’s own work without acknowledging that one is doing so or without citing the original work. Typically, high public-interest texts are not a subject of self-plagiarism; however, the authors should not violate copyright where applicable. "Public-interest texts" include such material as social, professional, and cultural opinions usually published in newspapers and magazines. 

In academic fields, self-plagiarism is a problem when an author reuses portions of his or her own published and copyrighted work in subsequent publications, but without attributing the previous publication.<ref>{{cite web | author = Irving Hexham | year = 2005 | title = Academic Plagiarism Defined | url = http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/plag.html}}</ref> Identifying self-plagiarism is often difficult because of legal issues regarding [[fair use]].<ref>{{cite journal | author= Pamela Samuelson | title= Self-plagiarism or fair use? | journal = Communications of the ACM | volume=27 | issue = 8 | url=http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/179606.179731 | month = August | year = 1994}}</ref> Some professional organizations like the [[Association for Computing Machinery]] (ACM) have created policies that deal specifically with self-plagiarism.<ref>{{cite web | month = October | year = 2006 | title = ACM Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism | url=http://www.acm.org/pubs/plagiarism%20policy.html}}</ref> As compared to plagiarism, self-plagiarism is not yet very well-regulated. Some universities and editorial boards chose to not regulate it at all; those consider the term ''self-plagiarism'' [[oxymoron]]ic since a person cannot be accused of stealing from himself. 

For authors wishing to avoid potential issues when authoring new papers, the authors are strongly encouraged to follow these "best practices":
# Provide full disclosure &mdash; mention in the introduction that the new or derivative work incorporates texts previously published.
# Ensure there is no violation of copyright.
# Cite the old works in the references section of the new work.

== Organizational publications ==

Plagiarism is presumably not an issue when organizations issue collective unsigned works since they do not assign credit for originality to particular people. For example, the [[American Historical Association]]'s "Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct" (2005) regarding textbooks and reference books states that there is no question about taking credit for someone else's ideas. Since textbooks and encyclopedias are summaries of other scholars' work, they are not bound by the same exacting standards of attribution as original research. However, even such a book does not make use of words, phrases, or paragraphs from another text or follow too closely the other text's arrangement and organization. 

Within an organization, in its own working documents, standards are looser but not non-existent. If someone helped with a report, they expect to be credited. If a paragraph comes from a law report, a citation is expected to be written down.  Technical manuals routinely copy facts from other manuals without attribution, because they assume a common spirit of scientific endeavor (as evidenced, for example, in [[free software|free]] and [[open source software|open source]] software projects) in which scientists freely share their work.

The ''Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications'' Third Edition (2003) by Microsoft does not even mention plagiarism, nor does ''Science and Technical Writing: A Manual of Style'', Second Edition (2000) by Philip Rubens. The line between permissible literary and impermissible source code plagiarism, though, is apparently quite fine. As with any technical field,  computer programming makes use of what others have contributed to the general knowledge. 

It is common for university researchers to rephrase and republish their own work, tailoring it for different academic journals and newspaper articles, to disseminate their work to the widest possible interested public. However, it must be borne in mind that these researchers also obey limits: If half an article is the same as a previous one, it will be rejected. One of the functions of the process of [[peer review]] in academic writing is to prevent this type of 'recycling'.

Public figures commonly use anonymous speech writers. If a speech uses copied material, however, it is the public figure who will be embarrassed. [[Delaware]] Senator [[Joe Biden]] was forced out of the 1988 US Presidential race (but remained in the US Senate) when it was discovered that parts of his campaign speeches were plagiarized from speeches by British Labor party leader [[Neil Kinnock]] and [[Robert Kennedy]].

== Examples of purported or actual plagiarism ==

=== Academia ===

* [[James A. Mackay]], a [[Scotland|Scottish]] historian, was forced to withdraw all copies of his biography of [[Alexander Graham Bell]] from circulation in 1998 because he plagiarized the last major work on the subject, a 1973 work.  Also accused of plagiarizing material on biographies of [[Mary Queen of Scots]], [[Andrew Carnegie]], and [[Sir William Wallace]], he was forced to withdraw his next work, on [[John Paul Jones]], in 1999 for an identical reason.<ref>{{cite web | author=Ralph Blumenthal | title=Repeat Accusations of Plagiarism Taint Prolific Biographer | work=The New York Times | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40E11FA34580C728EDDA00894D1494D81 |date=September 21 | year=1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Ralph Blumenthal | title=Familiarity Stops the Presses | work=The New York Times | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C17F63A5B0C758EDDA00894D1494D81 |date=September 26 | year=1999}}</ref>
*Marks Chabedi, a professor at the [[University of the Witwatersrand]] in South Africa, plagiarized his doctoral thesis. He used a work written by Kimberly Lanegran at the [[University of Florida]] and copied it nearly verbatim before submitting it to [[The New School]]. When Lanegran discovered this, she launched an investigation into Chabedi. He was fired from his professorship, and The New School revoked his Ph.D.<ref>[http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i43/43c00101.htm]</ref>  (The OCLC numbers for the dissertations are AAG9801108 and AAI9980001.) 
* Historian [[Stephen Ambrose]] has been criticized for incorporating passages from the works of other authors into many of his books.  He was first accused in 2002 by two writers for copying portions about [[World War II]] bomber pilots from [[Thomas Childers]]'s ''The Wings of Morning'' in his book ''The Wild Blue''.<ref>{{cite web | author=David D. Kirkpatrick | title=2 Say Stephen Ambrose, Popular Historian, Copied Passages | work=The New York Times | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0914F934540C768CDDA80894DA404482 | date=January 5 | year=2002}}</ref> After Ambrose admitted to the errors, the ''[[New York Times]]'' found further unattributed passages, and "Mr. Ambrose again acknowledged his errors and promised to correct them in later editions."<ref>{{cite web | author=David D. Kirkpatrick | title=As Historian's Fame Grows, So Do Questions on Methods | work=The New York Times | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60916FB355D0C728DDDA80894DA404482 | date=January 11 | year=2002}}</ref>
*Author [[Doris Kearns Goodwin]] interviewed author Lynne McTaggart in her 1987 book ''The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys'', and she used passages from McTaggart's book about Kathleen Kennedy.  In 2002, when the similarities between Goodwin's and McTaggart's books became public, Goodwin stated that she had an understanding that citations would not be required for all references, and that extensive footnotes already existed.  Many doubted her claims, and she was forced to resign from the Pulitzer Prize board. <ref>[http://www.slate.com/id/2061056/]</ref><ref>[http://slate.msn.com/id/2091197/]</ref><ref>[http://hnn.us/articles/590.html]</ref>
*Mathematician and computer scientist [[Dănuţ Marcu]] claims to have published over 383 original papers in various scientific publications.  A number of his recent papers have been proven to be exact copies of papers published earlier by other people. <ref>http://l1.lamsade.dauphine.fr/~bouyssou/Marcu.pdf</ref>
*A University of Colorado investigating committee found Ethnic Studies professor and activist [[Ward Churchill]] guilty of multiple counts of plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification. The Chancellor has recommended Churchill's dismissal to the Board of Regents. Churchill was fired on [[24 July]] [[2007]].<ref name="misconduct_report">{{citation
| title = Report of the Investigative Committee of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct at the University of Colorado at Boulder concerning Allegations of Academic Misconduct against Professor Ward Churchill
| first1 = Marianne | last1 = Wesson
| first2 = Robert | last2 = Clinton
| first3 = José | last3 = Limón
| first4 = Marjorie | last4 = McIntosh
| first5 = Michael | last5 = Radelet
| year = 2006
| month = May 9
| publisher = University of Colorado at Boulder
| url = http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/download/WardChurchillReport.pdf
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| title =Ward Churchill The Research Misconduct Inquiry
| work = colorado.edu
| url =http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/churchill/
| accessdate=2006-07-03
}}</ref>

=== Business ===

On 6 June 2007, the Financial Times published a front page article under the headline: "Pipeliners All!’ Shell’s memo to Sakhalin <ref>[[http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2007/06/05/financial-times-%e2%80%98pipeliners-all%e2%80%99-shell%e2%80%99s-memo-to-sakhalin/ "Pipeliners All!’ Shell’s memo to Sakhalin]]</ref>

The article was about a leaked motivational memo in the form of an email from David Greer, the deputy chief executive of [[Sakhalin Energy]] circulated to Sakhalin-2 staff. Some keen eyed readers noticed that inspirational passages were appropriated from a famous speech given by the legendary U.S. General [[George S. Patton]], on 5 June 1944 on the eve of [[D-Day]] the Sixth of June. On 7 June 2007, a quarter page follow-up article was published in the Financial Times newspaper and on the FT.com website, under the headline: "Sakhalin motivational memo borrows heavily from Patton” <ref>[http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2007/06/06/financial-times-shell-mans-motivation-memo-is-straight-from-the-patton-script-talent-borrows-genius-steals/ "www.royaldutchshellplc.com - Sakhalin motivational memo borrows heavily from Patton”].</ref> {{Fact|date=June 2007}}

On Monday 11 June 2007, the ''Financial Times'' published another article at  <ref>[http://www.tellshell.net/blog/_archives/2007/6/11/3013806.html www.tellshell.com]</ref> on the subject, this time headlined: ''“Motivational memos must make their message clear”.'' One of the opening paragraphs stated: ''“The memo (www.ft.com/shell) is crass, poorly punctuated and most of it wasn't even written by its author, [[David Greer]], deputy chief executive of [[Royal Dutch Shell]]'s Sakhalin Energy Investment Company. He had lifted the words of General George S. Patton with no attribution, and clumsily adapted them to spur on his team of recalcitrant pipeline engineers”''.{{Fact|date=June 2007}}  

On 9 June 2007, The [[Moscow Times]] published a front page article on the controversy headlined: ''Sakhalin Pep Talk From ‘Old Blood and Guts'''.

There is a Wikipedia entry covering the David Greer memo affair entitled: [[Controversies_surrounding_Royal_Dutch_Shell#Plagiarism_controversy_over_Sakhalin-2_motivational_memo | Plagiarism controversy over Sakhalin-2 motivational memo]]

=== Computer games ===

* Atari's video game [[Pong]] was accused by [[Magnavox]] of being a copy of the Odyssey's tennis game. [[Nolan Bushnell]] saw [[Ralph Baer]]'s version at a 1972 electronics show in [[Burlingame, California]].  Bushnell then founded Atari and established Pong as its featured game.  "Baer and Magnavox filed suit against Bushnell and Atari in 1973 and finally reached an out-of-court settlement in 1976. It marked the end for Odyssey and the beginning of the Atari age."<ref>"A 30 Year Odyssey for Home Video Games," ''Chicago Sun-Times'', February 16, 2003</ref> <ref>[http://www.pong-story.com/odyssey.htm www.pong-story.com]</ref>

=== Film ===

*The 1922 film ''[[Nosferatu]]'' was an unauthorized adaptation of [[Bram Stoker]]'s novel ''[[Dracula]]''. Stoker's widow sued the producers of Nosferatu, and had many of the film's copies destroyed (although some remain).<ref>{{cite news | first=Christopher | last=Grayling | coauthors= | title=The Vampfather | date=January 21, 2001 | publisher = UK Independent| url= | accessdate = | language = }}</ref>
*The 1990 movie [[Hardware (1990 film)|Hardware]] was noted to have substantial similarities to the [[2000 AD (comic)|2000 AD]] one-shot story "SHOK!". Following legal action, the filmmakers agreed to amend the credits to read that the movie was "inspired by" the writers of the comic strip.<ref>[http://www.2000adonline.com/?zone=spinoff&page=films 2000AD Online "spinoff" archive]</ref>

=== Journalism ===

*In 1999, writer and television commentator [[Monica Crowley]] allegedly plagiarized part of an article she wrote for the ''Wall Street Journal'' ([[August 9]], [[1999]]), called "The Day Nixon Said Goodbye." The Journal ran an apology the same week. [[Timothy Noah]] of ''[[Slate Magazine]]'' later wrote of the striking similarities in her article to phrases [[Paul Johnson (writer)|Paul Johnson]] used in his 1988 article for ''[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary]]'' called "In Praise of Richard Nixon". <ref>[http://www.slate.com/id/1003470/]</ref>
*''[[New York Times]]'' reporter [[Jayson Blair]] plagiarized articles and manufactured quotations in stories, including stories regarding [[Jessica Lynch]] and the [[Beltway sniper attacks]]. He and several editors from the Times resigned in June 2003.<ref>{{cite web | author=Kristina Nwazota | title=Jayson Blair: A Case Study of What Went Wrong at The New York Times | work=PBS Online News Hour | url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/media/media_ethics/casestudy_blair.php  | date=December 10 | year=2004}}</ref>
*[[Moorestown Township, New Jersey]], high-school student [[Blair Hornstine]] had her admission to [[Harvard University]] revoked in July 2003 after she was found to have passed off speeches and writings by famous figures, including [[Bill Clinton]], as hers in articles she wrote as a student journalist for a local newspaper.<ref> Hornstine, Blair.  [http://www.courierpostonline.com/static/st060303g.html "Stories, essays lacked attribution"]. ''[[The Courier Post]]''. [[June 3]], [[2003]]</ref>
*Long-time ''[[Baltimore Sun]]'' columnist [[Michael Olesker]] resigned on January 4, 2006, after being accused of plagiarizing other journalists' articles in his columns.<ref>{{cite web | author=Associated Press | title=Baltimore Sun Columnist Quits Amid Plagiarism Charges | work=Fox News | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180569,00.html  | date=January 4 | year=2006}}</ref>
*Conservative [[blogger]] [[Ben Domenech]], soon after he was hired to write a blog for the ''[[Washington Post]]'' in 2006, was found to have plagiarized a number of columns and articles he'd written for his college newspaper and [[National Review]] Online, lifting passages from a variety of sources ranging from well-known pundits to amateur film critics. Domenech ultimately apologized and resigned<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/24/AR2006032401206.html Washington Post online] ''Post.com Blogger Quits Amid Furor'', Howard Kurtz. March 25, 2006</ref>
*A Pakistani [[ezine]]<ref>[http://www.wecite.net]</ref> was found to have plagiarised as many as 11 articles in its May 2007 issue, many of them word for word, from various sources on the web, including ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', [[Rediff.com|Rediff]], [[Blogcritics]], ''Vis-a-Vis'' magazine and ''[[Slate Magazine|Slate]]'' magazines.<ref> Zainub Razvi.  [http://desicritics.org/2007/06/01/124012.php "The Ugly Face Of Internet Plagiarism - WeCite Busted!"]. ''[[Desicritics]]''. [[June 1]], [[2007]]</ref> The ezine management pulled the website and apologised, terming the plagiarism a product of the "mis-use" of authority by writers and editors of the magazines, and promising to deal with the plagiarists accordingly but "by no means" letting the "genuine efforts of its [other] writers, administration, and management suffer for it".Fauzan Sohail.  <ref>[http://wecite.wordpress.com/message-from-wecite-management/ "Message from WeCite Management"]</ref>{{Fact|date=June 2007}}

=== Literature ===

* A young [[Helen Keller]] was accused in 1892 of plagiarizing Margaret T. Canby's story ''The Frost Fairies'' in her short story ''[[The Frost King]]''. She was brought before a tribunal of the [[Perkins Institute for the Blind]], where she was acquitted by a single vote. She said she was worried she may have read The Frost Fairies and forgotten it and "remained paranoid about plagiarism ever after."<ref>{{cite web | author=Walter Kendrick | title=Her Hands Were a Bridge to the World | work=The New York Times | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E3D9133DF933A0575BC0A96E958260  |date=August 30 | year=1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Helen Keller | title= The Story of My Life | url=http://www.afb.org/MyLife/book.asp?ch=P1Ch14 | year= 1903}}</ref> and said that this led her to write an autobiography: the one thing she knew must be original.
* [[Alex Haley]] settled a lawsuit with [[Harold Courlander]] that cited approximately 80 passages in Haley's novel [[Roots: The Saga of an American Family|''Roots'']] as having been plagiarized from Courlander's novel ''The African''. "Accusations that portions of 'Roots' (Doubleday hard cover, Dell paperback) consisted of plagiarized material or were concocted plagued Mr. Haley from soon after the book's publication up until his death in February 1992. In 1978, Mr. Haley was sued for plagiarism by Harold Courlander, author of the novel ''The African'', and Haley paid him $650,000 in an out-of-court settlement."<ref>{{cite web | author=Esther B. Fein | title=Book Notes | work=The New York Times | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00613FC3E580C708CDDAA0894DB494D81 | date=March 3 | year=1993}}</ref> Haley insisted that "the passages 'were in something somebody had given me, and I don't know who gave it to me . . . . Somehow or another, it ended up in the book."<ref>{{cite web | author=Anne S. Crowley| title=Research Help Supplies Backbone for Haley's Book | work=Chicago Tribune |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/25059144.html?dids=25059144:25059144&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+24%2C+1985&author=Anne+S+Crowley%2C+Associated+Press&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=10.H&desc=RESEARCH+HELP+SUPPLIES+BACKBONE+FOR+HALEY%27S+BOOK |date=October 24, 1985}}</ref>
Courlander's pre-trial memorandum in the lawsuit stated: "Defendant Haley had access to and substantially copied from ''The African''. Without ''The African'', ''Roots'' would have been a very different and less successful novel, and indeed it is doubtful that Mr. Haley could have written ''Roots'' without ''The African''. . . . Mr. Haley copied language, thoughts, attitudes, incidents, situations, plot and character."

In his report submitted to the court in this lawsuit, Professor of English and expert witness on plagiarism, Michael Wood of Columbia University, stated: "The evidence of copying from ''The African'' in both the novel and the television dramatization of ''Roots'' is clear and irrefutable. The copying is significant and extensive....''Roots''...plainly uses ''The African'' as a model: as something to be copied at some times, and at other times to be modified; but always, it seems, to be consulted. . . . ''Roots'' takes from ''The African'' phrases, situations, ideas, aspects of style and of plot. . . . ''Roots'' finds in ''The African'' essential elements for its depiction of such things as a slave's thoughts of escape, the psychology of an old slave, the habits of mind of the hero, and the whole sense of life on an infamous slave ship. Such things are the life of a novel; and when they appear in ''Roots'', they are the life of someone else's novel."

After a five-week trial in federal district court, Courlander and Haley settled the case, with Haley making a financial settlement and a statement that "Alex Haley acknowledges and regrets that various materials from ''The African'' by Harold Courlander found their way into his book ''Roots''."

During the trial, presiding U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Ward stated, "Copying there is, period." In a later interview with BBC Television, Judge Ward stated, "Alex Haley perpetrated a hoax on the public."

During the trial, Alex Haley had maintained that he had not read ''The African'' before writing Roots. Shortly after the trial, however, an instructor of black literature at Skidmore College, Joseph Bruchac, came forward. He swore in an affidavit that in 1970 or 1971 (five or six years before the publication of ''Roots'') he had discussed ''The African'' with Haley and had, in fact, given his "own personal copy of ''The African'' to Mr. Haley." 
 
*[[Dan Brown]], author of ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'', has been [[Criticisms of The Da Vinci Code|twice accused of plagiarism]] resulting in lawsuits, but both suits were ultimately dismissed.<ref>[http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=42132005 Report in ''The Scotsman'']</ref><ref> Maev Kennedy, [http://books.guardian.co.uk/danbrown/story/0,,1719776,00.html. In a packed high court, a  new twist in The Da Vinci Code begins to unfold], [[The Guardian]], 28 February 2006</ref><ref> [http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/03/10/1446476.htm Publish and be damned if you don't sell more], The Birmingham Post, [[10 March]] [[2006]]</ref><ref> [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1718177,00.html Da Vinci trial pits history against art], The Observer, [[26 February]] [[2006]]</ref><ref> [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4886234.stm Court rejects Da Vinci copy claim], BBC News, 7 April 2006</ref>
** Brown was accused of "appropriating the architecture" of the book ''[[The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail]]'' (1982) by [[Michael Baigent]] and [[Richard Leigh]]. A British judge dismissed the copyright infringement claim in April 2006, on the grounds that the earlier book claims to be non-fictional.
** Additionally, Brown was accused by novelist [[Lewis Perdue]] for plagiarizing his novels ''The Da Vinci Legacy'' (1983) and ''Daughter of God'' (2000). A U.S. judge dismissed the case in August 2005.
*[[Kaavya Viswanathan]]'s first novel ''How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life'' is reported to contain plagiarized passages from at least five other novels. All editions of the book were subsequently withdrawn, her publishing deal with Little, Brown and Co. was rescinded, and a film deal with Dreamworks SKG was cancelled.<ref>[http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=512948 "Student’s Novel Faces Plagiarism Controversy"], David Zhou,, ''The Harvard Crimson'', [[April 23]], [[2006]]</ref><ref>[http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1145943324186730.xml?starledger?ntop&coll=1 "For new author, a difficult opening chapter"], Vicki Hyman, ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', [[April 25]], [[2006]].</ref><ref>[http://bulletin.gmnews.com/news/2006/0518/Front_Page/006.html "Author McCafferty talks shop with Brick's Lit Chicks"], Colleen Lutolf, ''Brick Township Bulletin'', [[May 18]], [[2006]].</ref>
*In 1999 [[J.K. Rowling]] (Author of the [[Harry Potter]] series of books) was sued by [[Nancy Stouffer]] who claimed the former plagiarised material from the later's short lived writing career.

=== Music ===

* [[George Harrison]] was successfully sued in a prolonged suit that began in 1971 for plagiarizing the [[Chiffons]]' "[[He's So Fine]]" for the melody of his own "[[My Sweet Lord]]." <ref>[http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/mysweet.htm]</ref>
* In early 2007, [[Timbaland]] was alleged to have plagiarized several elements (both motifs and samples) in the song "Do It" on the 2006 album ''Loose'' by [[Nelly Furtado]] without giving credit or compensation.  See ''[[2007 Timbaland plagiarism controversy]]''.
* In early 2006, The writers of [[Lee Hyori]]'s song "Get Ya" were accused of plagarizing [[Britney Spears]]' [[Do Somethin']]. This eventually led Lee Hyori to stop promoting the song and contributed to the failure of the song and its album, [[Dark Angel]].
*In 1994 [[John Fogerty]] was sued for self plagiarism after leaving Fantasy Records and pursuing a solo career with Warner Brothers.  Fantasy still owned the rights to the CCR library and sound.  Saul Zaentz, the owner of Fantasy, claimed Fogerty's song "Old Man Down the Road" was a musical copy of the Creedence song "Run Through the Jungle."  The court made a landmark decision when it ruled that an artist cannot plagiarize himself.

=== Politics ===

==== Senator Joseph Biden ====

*[[Joseph Biden|Biden]] was forced to withdraw from the [[U.S. presidential election, 1988|1988 Democratic Presidential nominations]] when it was alleged that he had failed a 1965 introductory law school course on legal methodology due to plagiarism. "Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., fighting to salvage his Presidential campaign . . . acknowledged 'a mistake' in his youth, when he plagiarized a law review article for a paper he wrote in his first year at law school.  Mr. Biden insisted, however, that he had done nothing 'malevolent,' that he had simply misunderstood the need to cite sources carefully."<ref>{{cite web | author=E.J. Dionne, Jr. | title=Biden Admits Plagiarism in School But Says It Was Not "Malevolent" | work=The New York Times | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40712FA3F5B0C7B8DDDA00894DF484D81 |date=September 18 | year=1987}}</ref> Biden withdrew from the race September 23, 1987, and reported the law school incident to the Delaware Supreme Court.  The court's Board of Professional Responsibility cleared him of any allegations.<ref>{{cite web | author=E.J. Dionne, Jr. | title=Professional Board Clears Biden in Two Allegations of Plagiarism | work=The New York Times |  url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0710FC39540C7A8EDDAC0894D1484D81 | date=May 29 | year=1989}}</ref>
* Biden was also accused of plagiarizing portions of his speeches, and that he had copied several campaign speeches, notably those of British Labour leader [[Neil Kinnock]] and Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]]. He denied those charges.  "And he asserted that another controversy, concerning recent reports of his using material from others' speeches without attribution, was 'much ado about nothing.'"<ref>{{cite web | author=E.J. Dionne, Jr. | title=Biden Admits Plagiarism in School But Says It Was Not "Malevolent" | work=The New York Times | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40712FA3F5B0C7B8DDDA00894DF484D81 |date=September 18 | year=1987}}</ref>

==== Iraq War ====

*In a ''[[New York Times]]'' editorial prior to the [[Iraq War]], [[United States]] [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]]'s [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]] [[Condoleezza Rice]] explained that [[Saddam Hussein]] could not be trusted for various reasons, including the fact that Hussein had committed plagiarism.  "Iraq's declaration [to the [[United Nations]] regarding the state of its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs] even resorted to unabashed plagiarism, with lengthy passages of United Nations reports copied word-for-word (or edited to remove any criticism of Iraq) and presented as original text."<ref>{{cite web | author=Condoleezza Rice | title=Why We Know Iraq Is Lying | work=The New York Times | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B14FE35540C708EDDA80894DB404482 | date=January 23 | year=2003}}</ref>
*On [[February 3]], [[2003]], [[Alastair Campbell]], [[Great Britain|British]] [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]]'s Director of Communications and Strategy, released a briefing document to journalists entitled "Iraq: Its Infrastructure of Concealment, Deception and Intimidation." It described Iraq and its weapons of mass destruction programs. Journalists discovered that many sources, particularly an article by [[Ibrahim al-Marashi]], had been copied word-for-word, including typographical errors. Journalists dubbed the document the "[[Dodgy Dossier]]." After the revelation, Blair's office issued a statement admitting that a mistake was made in not crediting its sources, but it did not concede that the quality of the documents's content was affected.<ref>{{cite web | author=Julian Rush | title=Downing St dossier plagiarised | work=Channel 4 News | url=http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/02/week_1/06_dossier.html |date=February 6 | year=2003}}</ref>

==== Vladimir Putin ====

*Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] has been accused of plagiarism by fellows at the [[Brookings Institution]] who allege that "[l]arge chunks of Putin's economics dissertation on planning in the natural resources sector were lifted from a management text published by two University of Pittsburgh academics nearly 20 years earlier."<ref>{{cite web | author=David R. Sands | title=Researchers Peg Putin as a Plagiarist over Thesis | work=The Washington Times | url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20060324-104106-9971r  | date=March 25 | year=2006}}</ref>

=== Wikipedia ===

*In November 2006, the Associated Press reported activist Daniel Brandt's claim to have uncovered 142 articles with plagiarized content among the 12,000 Wikipedia articles he chose to search. Wikipedia administrators responded that this list misidentifed some articles where it was the allegedly original text that had plagiarized Wikipedia, and reported that they took action on the cases that involved copyright violations.<ref name=plagiarism>{{cite web 
 | last = Jesdanun
 | first = Anick 
 | title = Wikipedia Critic Finds Copied Passages
 | publisher = [[Associated Press]] 
 | date = [[November 3]], [[2006]]
 | url = http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061103/wikipedia_plagiarism.html?.v=2}}</ref>   He "called on Wikipedia to conduct a thorough review of all its articles."<ref>{{cite web |
   url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/11/04/1162340080487.html |
   title=Wikipedia Critic Finds Copied Passages |
   work=The Sydney Morning Herald |
   date=2006-11-04 |
   accessdate=2007-01-24 }}
</ref>

=== Other instances ===

====Martin Luther King, Jr. ====

{{main|Martin Luther King, Jr. authorship issues}}

* In 1991 a [[Boston University]] investigation into allegatons of [[academic misconduct]] concluded that [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] had plagiarized large portions of his [[doctoral thesis]].  "A committee of scholars at Boston University concluded that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. plagiarized portions of his doctoral dissertation, completed there in the 1950s." The BU committee recommended that King's doctoral degree should not be revoked; however, a letter is now attached to King's dissertation in the university library, noting that numerous passages were included without the appropriate citations of sources.<ref>"Panel Confirms Plagiarism by King at BU" by Charles A. Radin, ''The Boston Globe'', October 11, 1991</ref>
* It has been charged that for his "[[I Have A Dream]]" speech King plagiarized the 1952 address of Archibald Carey to the [[Republican National Convention]], the similarities being in the reference to the [[Samuel Francis Smith]] patriotic hymn [[My Country, 'Tis of Thee|"America"]] in the peroration followed by a listing of geographical locations from which the orator exhorts his audience to "let freedom ring." Many, however, believe that the comparisons are so slightly similar that they do not rise to the level of plagiarism.  <ref>[http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/38.htm King's "I Have a Dream" Speech]</ref>, <ref>[http://chem-gharbison.unl.edu/mlk/whose_dream_2.html Carey's Speech]</ref>, <ref>[http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/devotions/MyCountryTis.asp My Country, 'Tis of Thee]</ref>.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/mlking.asp|title=Martin Luther King|work=[[Urban Legends Reference Pages|Snopes]]|accessdate=2007-01-15 }}</ref>

==== William H. Swanson ====

*[[William H. Swanson]], CEO, of [[Raytheon]], admitted to plagiarism in claiming authorship for his booklet, "Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management," after being exposed by ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite web | title=Raytheon Chairman & CEO Comments Regarding 'Unwritten Rules'| work=Raytheon News Release | url= http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=149999&TICK=RTN&STORY=/www/story/04-24-2006/0004346311&EDATE=Apr+24,+2006| accessdate=2006-05-02}}</ref>  On May 2, 2006, Raytheon withdrew distribution of the book.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/05/02/raytheon_halts_distribution_of_controversial_booklet_by_ceo/ |title=Raytheon halts distribution of controversial booklet by CEO|author=|publisher=AP/Boston.com|date=[[2006-05-02]]|accessdate=2006-05-02}}</ref>

==== Lyle Menendez ====

* [[Lyle Menendez]] was suspended from [[Princeton University]] after his first semester for copying a fellow student's lab report two years before he and his brother murdered their parents.  <ref>[http://www.courttv.com/archive/casefiles/menendez/documents/lyle.html]</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Academic dishonesty]]
*[[Contract cheating]]
*[[Credit (creative arts)]]
*[[Cryptomnesia]]
*[[Essay mill]]
*[[Fair use]]
*[[Journalism scandals]] (plagiarism, fabrication, omission)
*[[Kaavya Viswanathan]]
*[[Multiple publication]]
*[[Plagiarism detection]]
*[[Scientific misconduct]]

== References ==

{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.historians.org/pubs/free/professionalstandards.cfm American Historical Association, "Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct" (2005)]
* [http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0511/p14s01-lire.html?s=hns What is the price of plagiarism?] A ''The Christian Science Monitor'' article
* The [http://ahe.cqu.edu.au Assessment in Higher Education] web site's plagiarism page contains links to a variety of resources (articles, books, cheat sites, etc).
* [http://www.plagiary.org/ "Plagiary: Cross-disciplinary Studies in Plagiarism, Fabrication, and Falsification."] journal
* [http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/08/plagiarism_and.html Plagiarism and Academia: Personal Experience], [[Bruce Schneier]]
* [http://www.jiscpas.ac.uk JISC Plagiarism Advisory Service] Provides advice and guidance to UK learning institutions.
* [http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/law/library/purpose.html Columbia University Music Plagiarism Project]
* [http://www.mlaforum.org/volumeV/issue2/article1.html College Students, Plagiarism, and the Internet:The Role of Academic Librarians in Delivering Education and Awareness] - Wiebe, Todd J. (2006). ''MLA Forum'' 5(2).