plagiarism

Possible Cassie Edwards Response to Plagiarism Charges

Commenter at Smart Bitches, provided a copy of the following which is alleged to be the response of Cassie Edwards which she sent to a fan. Dear Author has contacted both the fan and Cassie Edwards for a response but has received neither a denial nor a confirmation. Updated to add: DA contacted, via telephone,(…)

Cassie Edwards Copies Words from Pulitzer Prize Winning Novelist

edited to add: Cassie Edwards website is now taken down. It redirects to the myspace page. You might be suffering from Cassie Edwards plagiarism fatigue but because of what I have read on the internet in various places, from both authors and readers, I think I need to post this example. One of the Smart(…)

NY Times and Daily Telegraph Publish Articles on the Cassie Edwards Plagiarism Issue

Felicia Lee, reporter from the Times, provided an excellent summary of the Cassie Edwards plagiarism issue that broke on the blog, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. While some around the community believe that exposure of this issue is a black eye on romance, I think the majority of the response showed the genre to a good(…)

The Fallacy of Neutrality and The Matter of Romance

Over the past few days, some have lamented the fact that it was the Smart Bitches who broke the Cassie Edwards story, because they are not "neutral" enough where Edwards is concerned. I don’t think anyone could argue seriously that the Smart Bitches are neutral about Cassie Edwards (although if you take a look at(…)

More Evidence of Cassie Edwards “Lifting”

Given the statement by Ms. Edwards that she took materials but didn’t realize that you need to footnote it; the original Signet response that her use was fair use and the fact that the original sources were mostly public domain, it’s illuminating and disturbing to see the following by commenter Em at the SBTB site(…)

New Signet Response on the Cassie Edwards Matter

From: xxxx.penguingroup.com Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 1:02 PM To: Jane Litte Subject: New Cassie Edwards statement Dear Jane, Please find below a new statement from Signet re: the Cassie Edwards’ situation. Our original comments were based on Signet’s review of a limited selection of passages. We believe the situation deserves further review. Therefore we(…)

Cassie Edwards Plagiarism Recap

Jan 7, 2008 the Smart Bitches Trashy Books site post examples of text from several Cassie Edwards’ novels and the sources from which they might be copied. SB Sarah has combined all the comparisons into one easy to read PDF. List of links: Shadow Bear Savage Longings Running Fox, Part 1 and Part 2 Savage(…)

To Boycott or Not To Boycott: Why I don't think that's the question

I have been tempted so many times to boycott an author or publisher, especially when I come across 200 page $22 hardcovers or a serial lack of copyediting. But in this case, in the aftermath of Signet’s response to the revelations regarding Cassie Edwards, I do not think boycotting is the best choice. It seems(…)

RWA Official Response to AP Article

There are heated discussions on various loops and blogs regarding the accusations of plagiarism against a published romance author. Some questions have also been raised regarding RWA’s stand on the matter. To be clear, RWA does not condone plagiarism or any type of copyright infringement. (Please see RWA’s Code of Ethics http://www.rwanational.org/cs/code_of_ethics). RWA takes all(…)

My Open Letter to Penguin

Dear Mr. Shanks, CEO of Penguin, and Susan Peterson Kennedy, President of Penguin: I am writing to share with you my disilllusionment with your publishing house after the response you gave to the allegations of plagiarism against Signet author, Cassie Edwards. As a reader, when I buy a book, I assume that my money is(…)

AP News Picks Up Cassie Edwards Plagiarism Story and Gets Statement

AP writer Hillel Italie obtain a statement and response from Cassie Edwards on the plagiarism charges. “When you write historical romances, you’re not asked to do that,” Cassie Edwards told The Associated Press, speaking earlier this week from her home in Mattoon, Ill. Edwards husband then chimed in with this defense: “She doesn’t lift passages,”(…)

Regarding the Cassie Edwards situation

Edited to add my inquiry: Apparently some are taking umbrage that I posted the Signet response but not my own email inquiry. I will say that I had permission to post the Signet response but I don’t mind adding my inquiry: Dear Mr. [name redacted at the request of the responder]: I was writing to(…)

Plagiarism Is a Community Issue

“Plagiarism is the academic and literary equivalent of robbery, taking somebody else’s property. If you copy somebody’s test answers, take an essay from a magazine and pass it off as your own, lift a well-phrased sentence or two and include them without crediting the author or using quotation marks, or even pass off somebody’s good(…)

It’s Plagiarism Week: Seinfelds (both of them) Sued Over Vegelicious Book

Jerry Seinfled went on the attack to defend his wife’s book, Deceptively Delicious, and called author and chef Missy Lapine “another kind of nut” and implied that she was a “wacko and celebrity stalker”. His fervent defense of his wife might cost him a few dollars. The suit alleges Jessica Seinfeld copied Missy Lapine’s book,(…)

Cassie Edwards’ Books Bear Similar (okay Exact) Text to Previously Published Texts

The Smart Bitches have uncovered a strange and sad set of circumstances involving the writing of romance novelist Cassie Edwards. Apparently passages from Shadow Bear, her latest Signet release, are exactly the same as text in Land of the Spotted Eagle by Luther Standing Bear and an article about black-footed ferrets from Defenders of Wildlife.(…)