Reporting Plagiarism of Lt.Colonel John Sheppard
I'm reporting apparent plagiarism by Lt.Colonel John Sheppard.
On June 28, 2013 I was followed a link to a story entitled For Love of the Game (full text before deletion of the story). This story was posted on FFN beginning June 13, 2013 in the Stargate SG:1 section of FFN. As I was reading along I discovered the wrong name in the text from time to time (character names that hadn't appeared in the story or fandom before but were referenced in a way as if they were a character we'd encountered in the story before). So I asked Lt.Colonel John Sheppard directly.
But then today I happened upon another incorrect name in the text. This was just too weird. So I googled the line that pinged and got one hit for an older (relative to the Stargate story) Dawson's Creek story. At that point I went back to the Stargate version to check one of the problems I'd found before (I'd pointed it out during the original conversation and Lt.Colonel John Sheppard had corrected it by the time I took this screenshot) but sure enough, aside from the name change, the rest of the line was the same in the Dawson's Creek Version. (For reference, the entirety of the Dawson's Creek Version is posted here.)
It's at this point that I messaged Lt.Colonel John Sheppard again (we've been messaging through Gateworld since that's how I know him). I also took a quick screen shot of his author page at FFN showing the plagiarized story in place.
As this is happening I contacted the orignal authors of the Dawson's Creek story via the email addresses available on the story's geocities page. I did tell them I'd let them make the report if they wanted to or I would if they'd prefer. I haven't heard back.
I pointed out to him that I could see his For Love of the Game had been previously posted as a Dawson's Creek story. He responded, then so did I. (Second screenshot of exchange.)
The conversation with Lt.Colonel John Sheppard continued.
Therefore, I'm alleging that Lt.Colonel John Sheppard's For Love of the Game was a plagiarization of Dannie and Rinny's For Love of the Game.
On June 28, 2013 I was followed a link to a story entitled For Love of the Game (full text before deletion of the story). This story was posted on FFN beginning June 13, 2013 in the Stargate SG:1 section of FFN. As I was reading along I discovered the wrong name in the text from time to time (character names that hadn't appeared in the story or fandom before but were referenced in a way as if they were a character we'd encountered in the story before). So I asked Lt.Colonel John Sheppard directly.
- Me (Amara D'Angeli): Hey there! I've spent the evening catching up on your new fic and I was wondering... did you write this as an original piece and then adapt it to Stargate?
- Him (Lt.Colonel John Sheppard): why do you ask?
- Me: I've noticed some inconsistencies with the character's names. The most recent one happened in the chapter I'm currently reading:
This was nothing like kissing AJ. It was heat, passion and hazy lust all rolled into one and she couldn't believe she settled for anything less before.
Unless I'm mistaken, and it's possible - goodness knows I'm under-rested these days - there hasn't been an AJ in the story. And there was a section with the babies several chapters back where you started out talking about Sammy and switched halfway through the paragraph to Matty. - Him: i must have been watching something that got me confused and i put those names instead. sorry but i'll fix it right now. it's just me rushing through chapters and not having a beta.
But then today I happened upon another incorrect name in the text. This was just too weird. So I googled the line that pinged and got one hit for an older (relative to the Stargate story) Dawson's Creek story. At that point I went back to the Stargate version to check one of the problems I'd found before (I'd pointed it out during the original conversation and Lt.Colonel John Sheppard had corrected it by the time I took this screenshot) but sure enough, aside from the name change, the rest of the line was the same in the Dawson's Creek Version. (For reference, the entirety of the Dawson's Creek Version is posted here.)
It's at this point that I messaged Lt.Colonel John Sheppard again (we've been messaging through Gateworld since that's how I know him). I also took a quick screen shot of his author page at FFN showing the plagiarized story in place.
As this is happening I contacted the orignal authors of the Dawson's Creek story via the email addresses available on the story's geocities page. I did tell them I'd let them make the report if they wanted to or I would if they'd prefer. I haven't heard back.
I pointed out to him that I could see his For Love of the Game had been previously posted as a Dawson's Creek story. He responded, then so did I. (Second screenshot of exchange.)
- Me: I found another mistake in a recent chapter - the name was wrong again. So I googled the line. And I was disappointed to discover your story appears to be a near verbatim repost of an old Dawson's Creek story located at: http://www.geocities.ws/rinnypj/game/game1.html.
- Him: oh. i never noticed.
- Me: It's not a matter of noticing. The other story was posted before yours and reads verbatim (save for the character names you'd replaced - both before and after I pointed out the few you hadn't). Unless you wrote the original and fibbed when I asked you originally, you've plagiarized the story and that's pretty serious business. I've notified the authors of the original fic and will, unless they'd like to handle it themselves, turn it over to Stop Plagiarism for further investigation.
This is an issue authors take very seriously. Yes, it's "only" fanfiction, but we own our work (and our original characters) and take great pride in what we're able to accomplish. Unless you'd like to come clean on your own, I'll post the information where your fic has been rec'd here at Gateworld. It's only fair your "fans" be aware of such an underhanded move. It's up to you. I'll give you a little time to decide how you'd like to handle it. I certainly don't wish to be unfair. - Him: i'll delete the story. and i'll come clean
- Me: Thank you.
- Him: your welcome.
The conversation with Lt.Colonel John Sheppard continued.
- Him: you wanna go through my other stories, make sure i didn't plagiarize those?
- Me: No. I didn't even want to do the one I did, to be honest. But being a writer myself I couldn't let it go. I can't promise others won't comb through your work once you've let them know what happened, but honestly I have neither the time nor the inclination. I'll trust that you know the difference between right and wrong and if you have other plagiarisms you'll take them down on your own.
- Him: that was the only one.
Therefore, I'm alleging that Lt.Colonel John Sheppard's For Love of the Game was a plagiarization of Dannie and Rinny's For Love of the Game.