Let me state right off the bat-
Plagiarism is WRONG. Really morally and ethically wrong. In Cassie Edwards case, not legally wrong at this point, but still, she should know better.
BUT
Every day we make moral and ethical choices. EVERY DAY. Let me be the first to say that I am not a saint, I’m a TOTAL hypocrite. Why? Because I just bought a cart load of Christmas stuff from Walmart for 75% off. And when I got home I had a homeschooling letter in my e-mail with THIS HORROR IN IT. Basically Chinese officials made a woman get an abortion at 9 months because she wasn’t of legal age (20) to be pregnant. Now, I don’t know about you all, but that made me cry, and want to throw up.
Was it wrong of Cassie Edwards to do what she did? Yes. But for all of my moral high ground and smug superiority, I fall far when I turn around and support murder with my $$ when I can make a conscious choice not to.
I get to choose every day, and copying someones work is something I can consciously not do, teach my children to not do, and young writers, BUT, every day we make hypocrites of ourselves when we make other immoral choices like I did.
Basically what I’m saying is we can’t throw stones, yanno? I learned again that it’s not best to get all up on your high horse, because you only make a fool of yourself by falling.
Now, as far as the news articles out, and the RWA president looking like a shadow puppet, I disagree with Signet, and RWA’s stance.
I HATE it when my kids mess up and have to suffer consequences. HATE. IT. Especially if it’s because they’re ignorant (I’m giving a WIDE benefit of the doubt here). But in every other industry but publishing, plagiarism is cause for removal. And that’s what I think should happen. I think her membership should be revoked from RWA (and the other plagiarists) and her books should be removed from the shelves. Will her books be removed? Probably not, because Signet will have no one threatening to sue them, it was LEGAL what she did, if not ethical.
So, in the case of RWA, they are in effect letting the bad child wreck and tarnish the name of the Romance Genre. If Cassie had said that YES, she was wrong and owned up to it, she still would have looked completely ignorant, but not dragged us along with her.
RWA can change that. But I have a feeling they won’t.
As far as my opinion on Smart Bitches. Over on Argh Ink, Crusie’s smidge of the web, Candy admits she was wrong as far as the tone and construction of the message. And I can honestly say, I bet they had NO idea it was going to be this big, or they might have tempered their first posting on the allegations. But now they know better, and I hope they learn from it. I won’t visit there because I disagree with their choice to not moderate comments, but I have a lot of respect for people who own up when they’re wrong. I hope Cassie can do the same, and restore some of the hurt feelings of romance writers. It would, at the least, be a start.
*blink*
Eva. You know I love you. But …
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha~~!!!
You kill me I swear.
They are young. I bet in ten years they’re tempered. OK, I hope.
They had no idea they were going to piss off one of the biggest draws they have to their blog. It’s damage control, not genuine remorse for what they do.
I expressed my feelings toward Sherry Lewis in my blog today.
I have no idea what you’re talking about but I don’t think I could ever accuse you of hypocrisy.
It’s the human condition : we all try – we all fail (eventually).
Me ? I fail consistently.
M.
Wow, someone seems to have a crystal ball that grants them clear, unlimited access other individuals’ minds….were I only so fortunate.
Anyway, Eva, just wanted to thank you for linking to the Jennifer Crusie post.
Kristen, it was a magnificent post, and being who you are, I hope it carries weight.
Merlin, you are adorable, as always.
imani, thank you for stopping by, and you’re welcome for the link. Please excuse my fangrrldom, but I want to be her when I grow up. *g*
Imani. I am sorry if my cynicism offends you. This isn’t the first run for them around this block and past actions are pretty good indicators of present motives. I do feel better knowing that Eva and yourself can see the potential good in everyone. I think I lost that light sometime during my college years. I could definitely use a good whap of optimism upside the head now and then. For this one? You’re gonna need to hit me with at least a thousand happy sticks to make me see sunshine.
Ferfelabat, I’m pretty sure that the Smart Bitches aren’t worrying about how to get people to read their blog just at the moment. Several times today their site has been down because of too much traffic.
Well. They are national news and they can’t be feeling bad about that. So. With a little rain they get flowers.
Actually, this should guarantee a huge first print run for their upcoming book.
Great post, Eva. I only wish I had the same sense of people being good as you do. Sadly, over the course of the past weeks I’ve lost my sense of trust for people, that deep down, there is good even int he meanest of bullies.
With that said, CE was dead wrong. There is no excuse for her actions.
I actually posted on this topic today–and found out that a number of my writer friends are paranoid about “accidental plagiarism.” Not that the CE stuff can be mistaken for accidental–it’s too blatant.
Still, I can’t imagine she’s sleeping too well at the moment, and I can’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. A very small pang.
Hi everyone….I came across this site while looking around to see what people across a wide spectrum think of the Cassie Edwards situation. I did post earlier today on the Bitches site, and yesterday I wrote about this in my own blog. http://ttthomasopinionhead.blogspot.com/
Basically, I’m finding it hard to consider there is such a thing as “accidental Plagiarism.” On her own website, Cassie Edwards says: “I only write Indian books now and I make certain that all of the research that I use in my books is authentic and interesting.”
I do a great deal of research for my historical novel, and I know that after a while, it all becomes a blur. That said, however, I could never mistake someone else’s “voice” as my own, and using someone else’s words is like stealing someone else’s lover: there’s no way you don’t know you’re doing it.
Hello, TT. I don’t think anyone has said that what she did was right, allowable, or acceptable under any circumstances. I do think that the first investigation into the situation should have unfolded a bit differently, and because a person has done something horrible doesn’t mean that they should be treated as less than human.
And there is no such thing as accidental plagiarism.
Please, everyone, be careful using the term “plagiarism.” It’s a legal term with specific and very damaging intent. There is significant evidence — nothing has been determined in any viable legal sense — that what C.E. did is NOT “plagiarism.” You may disagree with her methods, you may think it’s sloppy writing, etc. but there’s a HUGE difference between quoting nonfiction material under the “fair use” statue of copyright law, and “plagiarism.” Particularly if the works quoted are so old that they’re no longer protected by copyright and are thus in the public domain. C.E. may be completely innocent. We don’t know yet. The seriously hateful and obscene comments here and elsewhere are reckless at best, libelous at worst. No one wants to be hung in the public square without a fair trial. C.E. hasn’t even had a hearing yet. The ignorance of the general public about copyright law is understandable but the the meanness and rush to judgement is truly nasty.
Hi, Deb. Glad to hear a voice of reason. In my comments and posts on this topic I have been very careful not to pre-judge CE. My focus has been (as yours appears to be) completely on the circus started by the SBs. Unfortunately, taking that position results in complete strangers searching your entire body of work for the “witch mark”, because the only reason you could possibly not be on board with the “P” pillorying is you are guilty of it, too. If they can’t nail you on that cross, they find something — anything — to hit you with. There’s no stopping this with anything but time. It’s like the Boxing Day Tsunami, they’ll be picking up the bodies for months afterward.
Deb, nice to see you here-but I have to ask:
“The seriously hateful and obscene comments here and elsewhere are reckless at best, libelous at worst. No one wants to be hung in the public square without a fair trial. C.E. hasn’t even had a hearing yet. The ignorance of the general public about copyright law is understandable but the the meanness and rush to judgement is truly nasty.”
What on my post is obscene and hateful? Not for anything, but I’ve been one to tell people it’s getting out of hand, so don’t go lumping me in with that kettle of fish.
Deb, I’d venture that the key word in your comment is “quoted”. Cassie Edwards didn’t quote anything — that’s the problem, isn’t it?
no she textually appropriated.