Plagiarism Strikes

[MorganHawke]

While they say that copying someone is the highest form of praise. However plagiarism is another story all together.

I wrote & submitted my tale ‘Queen of Dragons’ to Literotica.com on 1/28/01. I also submitted this story to EroticStories.com as well. I’m guessing that he read it there. Apparently this young author liked it enough to copy & paste it, then post it to Literotica.com. He changed a few things around but other than that, the sentence structure is still mine.

What should I do?

Dragoness by J. Henson posted 8/8/01
http://literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=18648

Queen of Dragons by Morgan Hawke posted 1/28/01
http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=7197

Here are both tales.

 

[Weird Harold]

What should I do?

mailto:webmaster@literotica.com

Tell laurel.

I definitely agree that the stories are identical except for very minor details.

 

[MorganHawke]

Plagairism

I've e-mailed a copy of my original post to Laurel.

However, what is to stop Josh Henson from sending my altered tale to other sites?

 

[Laurel]

MH: I would write to J. Henson at hensonjosh@hotmail.com and politely remind him that copyright violations are illegal and unethical. Sometimes, people don't realize the gravity of such acts. They think that anything posted on the web is theirs to take and use - photos, stories, etc - unaware that others put time and effort into these things and that stories are copyrighted by the simple fact of publication under your name.

I've removed both the story and the author, and I will write the author a polite email regarding the work. I encourage you, MH, as the author to contact him as well. If he faces consequences of his actions, he is far less likely to try something like this again.

I try to catch plagiarism before publication and actually do nab quite a few. However, my eyes aren't what they used to be, and sometimes something will seem familiar (as in the case of this story) yet a search will turn up nothing so I will assume it is my own deja vu acting up again. If anyone else spots a plagiarized work, PLEASE email me with the story title & author along with a link (if possible) to where the original has been published. We do NOT support plagiarists and thiefs, and staunchly defend the author's copyrights whenever we are able.

Thanks for your submission, MorganHawke, and sorry that you had to go through this!

 

[Barbara]

The thing I like about this site is the ethical nature of the dealings with Authors. Laurel deserves all of out heartfelt thanks. Copying some writers work albeit with changes is probably to be expected but definitely not condoned. All literary work has merit, whether it is traditionally published or not. Laurel is to be commended for her even handed dealings with the variety of work on this site.
It can't be easy. Keep up the good work.
Barbara Anne.

Every benefit to mankind had it's origin in somebody's imagination at some point in time.

 

[MorganHawke]

Plagiarism - to the Culprit

Thank you Laurel for pulling that story. I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. Thank you again and thank you to everyone for your support.

I did indeed write to the author:

Subj: On your Story
Date: 7/11/01, 8:34:48 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: MorganHawk
To: hensonjosh@hotmail.com

Apparently you liked my 'Queen of Dragons'

While I am flattered that you liked my tale enough to copy & paste the bulk of it, plagiarism is still a very bad habit to get into.

I noted the name changes & other bits. However, the sentence structure is still mine & recognizably so. I'm guessing that you saw it on EroticStories.com. What you didn't know was that I have 'Queen of Dragons' posted on several story sites. Literotica just happens to be my home site. I post everything here first.

I think you just got yourself into trouble.

Morgan Hawke

 

[MorganHawke]

The End???

In an e-mail from BarqueCat (Cat~~):

***
> So Morgan, what did they guy say when you confronted him via email about stealing the story??
> Geez, you can't start this and give us the beginning, the middle and then not give us an ending...grin
> Cat
***

Dearest Cat,
The culprit never replied. (sigh)