Yet another plagiarism instance! This one's a doozy. An online magazine with a stated focus on first Amendment issues, and apparently run by a high school student, accepted for publication an X-Men slash piece (M/X) for its July issue.

Except the piece had previously been posted in its entirety a year ago to a number of XM archives and lists.

When the writer of the original story went to the webzine and asked them about it, the plagiarist claimed she had handwritten copies of the story and could post them as proof, and the editors insisted on spending a week investigating the issue before taking the story down.

The kicker? The plagiarist forgot to take the original writer's email address off the story. When people brought that up, she claimed the original writer had hacked her Yahoo account.

Oy. Links to all of this may be found via metablog.

I'm still waiting for the first instance where someone steals posted fic, changes the names, and sells it to a magazine as original fiction. It's probably happened already, but nobody's noticed (yet).

I keep reading about the plagiarism stories. It's just so crazy.

It's scary since you're unprotected as a Fic writer. Can't be much legal recourse since they aren't legally your characters.

I just heard a story about a fic writer who went to a real-life writer's workshop, and found another participant in the group (whose name she recognized as another fic writer) handing out copies of the first writer's fic, with the names changed.

She sat and fumed while the plagiarist received compliments and praise (for HER story) and then confronted the woman in the bathroom during the break. The plagiarist initially denied it, but the fic writer kept insisting, so the plagiarist bolted from the bathroom and never came back to the workshop.

Creepy, huh?

Creepy, and also, like, Hello? I mean, first of all, I don't think I've ever read a fanfic story that could handle just having the names changed and still be a comprehensible, non-fannish story. Half the point of fanfic is its context, its dialogue with canon.

(This was hilariously proved with a plagiarism case long, logn ago, in which someone too X-Files stories and changed the names and published them as -- wait for it -- as stories from The Nanny, that sitcom with the irritating-voice woman. The "author" didn't bother to change important details like the female character being a short, redheaded FBI agent, so as Nanny-fic, it was really hilarious.)

And also, it takes some real huevos (or stupidity) to go to a writer's group where -- presumably -- you recognize the person you're plagiarizing from in the audience, and go forward with your fraud anyway. I mean, did she think the plagiarize-ee wouldn't notice?? Did she think the other woman would be grateful?

And also, it takes some real huevos (or stupidity) to go to a writer's group where -- presumably -- you recognize the person you're plagiarizing from in the audience, and go forward with your fraud anyway. I mean, did she think the plagiarize-ee wouldn't notice?? Did she think the other woman would be grateful?

I think it was just a coincidence that they happened to be in the same writer's group at the same time. They'd never met before (and as far as I know, didn't swing in the same online social circles), but the plagiarizer wrote and posted her fic using her real name. So when she passed out the plagiarized fic (with character names and details changed, etc) with her real name on it, the plagiarze-ee figured out the connection, and then went on to confront her.

fic writer who went to a real-life writer's workshop, and found another participant in the group (whose name she recognized as another fic writer) handing out copies of the first writer's fic, with the names changed.

Now, there's a coincidence! I'd have been less surprised if the non-plagiarist had merely recognized the fic as being that of someone else in the online community, but to have it be her own work? Oy!

And I agree with Nutty up to a point on the specificity of fic being hard to swap to original stuff, but... I dunno. I think about stories like some of the really good casefiles from XF ("Antidote", "Rags", any of Syntax's or Nascent's work), and I really wouldn't be surprised if someone took one of those and made it into a free-standing mystery novel. Sure, there would be some work to do, but less work than writing it all yourself. Of course, arguing against it is the fact that the better a given story is, the more well known it is and the less likely the plagiarist would be to get away with it.

I love the Nanny-fic story.

I think it was mainly knowing the word

So it's a real word, then, and not just a pleasing (and it is pleasing) sound cluster? I asked two dictionaries but it wasn't there. Is it a place name...?

So it's a real word, then, and not just a pleasing (and it is pleasing) sound cluster? I asked two dictionaries but it wasn't there. Is it a place name...?

It's Greek. Thought I'd put the definition in there (I tame or I subdue). But, mostly, I like it because it's a pleasing sound cluster.

(I tame or I subdue).

Oh my lord. You're SUCH a top.

(...when I looked at Adamao, though, the header just reads Adamo.org, rather than Adamao.org. Is that intentional?)