(no subject)
This is bad.
This MULTIPLE levels of bad.
This makes those of us who are fans of Harry Potter not only look more batshit insane than everybody else (and compared to the crazies in Star Wars and Star Trek that’s saying something) but now we are starting to look like a fandom that condones Plagiarism and harbors known Plagiarists just because they write really popular stories and have hundreds of fans. Hell we even buy them laptops and iPods.
Now you can’t be in the Harry Potter Fandom without sometime, some how somewhere hearing about Cassandra Claire, she has written the huge epic fan fics known as ‘The Draco Trilogy” she has also written the insanely popular “LotR- Very Secret Diaries”. And maybe…just maybe you have heard whispers of the accusations of her plagiarizing another published author, maybe you’ve heard the excuses of “Oh that person who accused her is just jealious” or “No, she got PERMISSION from the author to use that passage!” or “She didn’t plagiarise! It’s a homage!” or my fav “I wrote that in my notebook and forgot I copied it from somebody else.”
Ladies and gents….boys and girls, below are seven links to a blow by blow page by page detailed account of the whos whats and whys of the Cassandra Claire Plagiarism Debacle. And believe me…it’s a fucking eyeopener, while some of the evidence cannot be 100% verified (it got deleted…details on why in the reports) there is enough there in my humble opinion to think that Cassandra Claire’s status as the be all end all ultimate fan of Harry Potter was built on a foundation of lies. These events first happened WAY back June 2001 for reference.
And I don’t recommend starting to read this thing unless you got several hours free, trust me.
FYI if you try to leave a comment on any of these entries using your LJ ID and password, it won't work, JournalFen is build using an older version of the LiveJournal software but it's not LiveJournal and you'll need a JournalFen account. JF accounts are available as Paid Accounts only, but there are comms on JF that help distribute codes to those who really want them.
Bad Penny is a recent community on JournalFen that takes a huge flashlight and shines it on older scandals and such in various fandoms, they are on JF instead of LJ because JF doesn't have the 'Delete First, Ask Questions Later' policy that LJ occasionally has.
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/8985.html Part 1
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/9422.html Part 2
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/9489.html Part 3
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/9989.html Part 4
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/10481.html Part 5
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/11003.html Part 6- Has the examples
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/11176.html Part 7- More Examples
Now for review- At least 8 passages, each one is at least 2 paragraphs long, have been found in the Draco Trilogy that have been VERY closely paraphrased or word for word copied that should be credited to other authors and enough quotes from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to make a full hour long episode if you strung them all together and that’s not going into the “Blackadder” and ‘Red Dwarf” quotes that have also been found. The sixth link has the side-by-side comparisons of all the stolen or suspicious material that has been found so far. And people are still finding un credited Buffy Quotes to this day! The original passage that started this whole mess has been removed from the most current version of the fic posted online I believe, this is the one that Cassandra CLAIMS she got permission for, but nobody has seen the official statement from the author, also there is at least 1 other passage lifted from the same author which bears an incomplete credit to this day.
Now what does this mean for you and I? The casual fic writer? PLENTY. You see Professional Authors are now starting to pick up on this mess, as of this writing at least 3 writers have sounded off on the issue on their blogs. I’m willing to bet as the word spreads, facts are verified more and more Authors are going to take an entirely different view of Fan Fiction then they did before, they are no longer going to see it as a benign hobby done by devoted fans, they are going to take it more seriously, some might even go so far as to take the same path as Anne Rice did and not only ban it…but take legal action against those who do it if they don’t comply.
Ugh…now excuse me I have to go somewhere and be sick…
SW
This MULTIPLE levels of bad.
This makes those of us who are fans of Harry Potter not only look more batshit insane than everybody else (and compared to the crazies in Star Wars and Star Trek that’s saying something) but now we are starting to look like a fandom that condones Plagiarism and harbors known Plagiarists just because they write really popular stories and have hundreds of fans. Hell we even buy them laptops and iPods.
Now you can’t be in the Harry Potter Fandom without sometime, some how somewhere hearing about Cassandra Claire, she has written the huge epic fan fics known as ‘The Draco Trilogy” she has also written the insanely popular “LotR- Very Secret Diaries”. And maybe…just maybe you have heard whispers of the accusations of her plagiarizing another published author, maybe you’ve heard the excuses of “Oh that person who accused her is just jealious” or “No, she got PERMISSION from the author to use that passage!” or “She didn’t plagiarise! It’s a homage!” or my fav “I wrote that in my notebook and forgot I copied it from somebody else.”
Ladies and gents….boys and girls, below are seven links to a blow by blow page by page detailed account of the whos whats and whys of the Cassandra Claire Plagiarism Debacle. And believe me…it’s a fucking eyeopener, while some of the evidence cannot be 100% verified (it got deleted…details on why in the reports) there is enough there in my humble opinion to think that Cassandra Claire’s status as the be all end all ultimate fan of Harry Potter was built on a foundation of lies. These events first happened WAY back June 2001 for reference.
And I don’t recommend starting to read this thing unless you got several hours free, trust me.
FYI if you try to leave a comment on any of these entries using your LJ ID and password, it won't work, JournalFen is build using an older version of the LiveJournal software but it's not LiveJournal and you'll need a JournalFen account. JF accounts are available as Paid Accounts only, but there are comms on JF that help distribute codes to those who really want them.
Bad Penny is a recent community on JournalFen that takes a huge flashlight and shines it on older scandals and such in various fandoms, they are on JF instead of LJ because JF doesn't have the 'Delete First, Ask Questions Later' policy that LJ occasionally has.
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/8985.html Part 1
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/9422.html Part 2
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/9489.html Part 3
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/9989.html Part 4
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/10481.html Part 5
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/11003.html Part 6- Has the examples
http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/11176.html Part 7- More Examples
Now for review- At least 8 passages, each one is at least 2 paragraphs long, have been found in the Draco Trilogy that have been VERY closely paraphrased or word for word copied that should be credited to other authors and enough quotes from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to make a full hour long episode if you strung them all together and that’s not going into the “Blackadder” and ‘Red Dwarf” quotes that have also been found. The sixth link has the side-by-side comparisons of all the stolen or suspicious material that has been found so far. And people are still finding un credited Buffy Quotes to this day! The original passage that started this whole mess has been removed from the most current version of the fic posted online I believe, this is the one that Cassandra CLAIMS she got permission for, but nobody has seen the official statement from the author, also there is at least 1 other passage lifted from the same author which bears an incomplete credit to this day.
Now what does this mean for you and I? The casual fic writer? PLENTY. You see Professional Authors are now starting to pick up on this mess, as of this writing at least 3 writers have sounded off on the issue on their blogs. I’m willing to bet as the word spreads, facts are verified more and more Authors are going to take an entirely different view of Fan Fiction then they did before, they are no longer going to see it as a benign hobby done by devoted fans, they are going to take it more seriously, some might even go so far as to take the same path as Anne Rice did and not only ban it…but take legal action against those who do it if they don’t comply.
Ugh…now excuse me I have to go somewhere and be sick…
SW