A rant about plagiarism

I try not to be a Drama-Lani, but this is something that keeps coming up and every time it does, it enrages me because I don't understand it. Even though I left social media, I still hear about stuff going on in the book world and a couple days ago, I heard that an author I'm quite close to has been blatantly plagiarized. I mean… I just don’t understand. There’s a difference between using someone’s work as inspiration and then using their book as an outline and filling in the blanks for your own story. If you are copying and pasting passages or even sentences, something is very wrong.

To be fair, I think we all start by rewriting someone else’s work… But you’re supposed to outgrow that shit. The first time I did this was when I was around eight or something. Tamora Pierce killed the protagonist’s twin at the end of the series. I was absolutely horrified and my young, fragile heart couldn't stand the pain. I was so distraught that I rewrote the ending so the twin would live. I also embellished on David Eddings fantasy series and put my own twist on it--for my own pleasure, of course. I didn't try to make money off of it because even at that age, I knew it was his and not mine. When you do rewrite part of someone's story, it's considered fan fiction and there’s nothing wrong with that. EL James took inspiration from the Twilight Series to create her own story and you can see that while there are similarities, Fifty Shades is obviously it’s own thing. Your work should be unrecognizable from someone else's story. It can "feel" like this story or have similar dark vibes, but when you're doing chapter by chapter breakdowns of the exact same scenario or turning points in the book, that shit is called plagiarism.

By selling a story, you’re declaring that this is your original work. Your thoughts, your ideas, your everything. You should never, ever, under any circumstances, be copying and pasting from someone else’s work. And people who use the “ghost writer” excuse... that's a load of bull shit. I don’t know another profession where you can lean so heavily on someone else. An actress might use a stunt double or a model to do nude shots for her during a movie, but I’ve never seen an actress tap a stand in to cry for her if she couldn’t do it on command. Either, you’re an actress and can do it, or you can’t. Same goes for a football player, musician, singer… If you’re a professional, you should be able to do your job description and if you can’t… maybe it’s time to find another profession. Have you heard about this painter who can't finish her paintings so she hires someone else to finish them for her? Yeah, me neither. It's very easy to take someone's work and build upon that. It's very hard to start from scratch. The original author created the setting, laid down the foundation, and put up a house. The author who plagiarizes is changing the decor and putting up new drapes, but you're still living in the house they built. Build your own.

I'm a very small author and yet even I have been approached about having my stories rewritten. A couple years ago, someone messaged me on social media and asked if she could rewrite Crime Lord’s Captive and just change the names for Wattpad. I said no and encouraged her to write her own stories. I was also approached by another author who had quite a few books under her belt. I was dumbfounded when she asked me if to help her write her second book since our storylines were similar… WTF. The only reason our storylines would be similar is if you made them similar. Mind you, these are people who actually approached me, so you can imagine those who didn’t? I don’t understand what’s happening. When did this become acceptable? Nora Roberts wrote about the plagiarism she experienced from another well-respected and established author, Janet Dailey. When she sued Janet Dailey, people told her she should be flattered… It’s one thing to be admired, it’s another thing for someone to use your words and feelings to win awards and put money in their pocket. Nora Roberts was also plagiarized by Cristiane Serruya in the #Copypastecris scandal. These articles are worth reading.

If you plagiarize, I will come for you... If you take my work, you will pay for it and I will do my best to see you don't write again.

Nora Roberts

Nora's a beast and I love her. The reason why most authors can't go after pirates or other plagiarists is because the legal fees are astronomical. One author told me her legal fees exceeded $100k and even if we go after pirate sites, they take that one down and make another the next day or share files on Twitter or in Facebook groups. It's impossible to stop it, but it would be nice if Google stopped making searches for stolen work so fucking easy to find... but it's something we have to deal with. But having another "author" steal our work? Now that's another level of fucked up.

In this day and age where everyone is connected, how do you think you’re going to get away with plagiarism? You think no one’s going to notice the similarities? So many people have been exposed for this in the past couple of years and I’m truly baffled by it. Why lift a couple sentences from someone and put your reputation and career in jeopardy? Also, you make the original author feel like shit. They dedicated countless hours to perfecting their story. They wove their worries and fears and hopes into this fabric to make it uniquely their own and here your dumb ass comes along, reads it, and starts plucking the design apart to take what you want and slap it into your story. It has no meaning for you other than you liked the way the author described something, but for the author, those lines are imbedded in their memory because they lived it. It’s gross and vile and people who do this should be absolutely ashamed of themselves… They’re not, but between pirating and the rampant plagiarism, it’s a wonder that any author is still writing. It’s depressing and whenever I hear about this happening to someone, it makes me so sad for that author because of the mental toll it takes on them.

I’m gonna end this rant with a shout out to the book community and especially the readers who bring this shit to light. Authors are just too in their heads with writing and running their businesses to be on top of everything. And I know a lot of authors who wouldn’t even want to know because it’ll destroy them. But it’s a necessary evil we have to deal with. Thank you to the group admins who spread the word, the readers with receipts, and those who confront pirates and these wanna be writers who should dabble in something else since they have no originality.

My heart goes out to this latest round of authors dealing with plagiarism. I hope it’s dealt with swiftly and professionally. And to the readers who look out for their authors, who encourage them instead of pulling them down, who pay for their work, and appreciate them, I salute you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.