Plagiarism Report
A couple months ago, acidpop25 posted a fic called Leading with my heart in Inception fandom that dealt with asexuality and relationships. I really liked this fic, since asexuality is not something I've seen written with any frequency in fandom at large.
Yesterday, copperized posted a fic called Slow Dancing in a Burning Room in Hockey RPF fandom which seemed rather similar to me. Note: fic has since been changed.
I pulled up LWMY and SDINBR side by side. I was really, really sad when I realized that the two are identical. Almost 90-95% of copperized's story is either lifted verbatim from acidpop25's story, or it's paraphrased to fit the characters in the differing fandoms.
At this point, I did a little digging. I wanted to make sure they weren't the same person, or something. I noticed that copperized has written Arthur/Eames in Inception fandom, and as LWMY is fairly well-known in that circle, I decided to send messages to both acidpop25 (who is still on vacation, to my knowledge) and copperized saying I thought the stories seemed rather similar. copperized sent me a return message saying, I stumbled across the fic so long ago, skimmed it over and forgot it even existed. Needless to say I'll be going back to revise mine… Thanks for noticing my faux pas.
So I started screencapping. Lo and behold, copperized locked the fic. I'm sorry, I don't buy "oops, my b" as an excuse for blatant plagiarism. If you look at the screencaps or read the exerpts below, you will realize there is no way this could have happened. If you forget something even exists, how can you recreate it almost word for word with find;replace for character names?
And here's the rub. copperized "wrote" this story as a response to a prompt on an anonmeme. S/he could have easily posted the story anon, but chose to instead post it in their own journal and put their name on it. I then contacted the mod in charge of the anonmeme, who deleted the link to the story. When an anon asked where the fill went, hockeykmod responded that it had been deleted due to a report of plagiarism. copperized responded to that saying the plagiarism wasn't intentional.
As of this morning, copperized has unlocked the same post with his/her new story instead of the plagiarised one -- not one word about acidpop25's story, the accusation of plagiarism or any mention at all of what happened yesterday. Since copperized refuses to acknowledge that s/he did plagiarise this story and because people seem to still be commenting on his/her new story, I feel compelled to make this information public. copperized has been a prolific writer in many fandoms. I don't know if this has happened before, and honestly I don't know that much about many of her written fandoms to be the judge in regards to that.
Screencaps: Author's Notes / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15
For brevity's sake, as the overwhelming majority of the two fics are the same, I'm including excerpts of the most blatant lifts.
acidpop25's fic:
Arthur's shoulders tense up when he feels Eames' hands settle on them, and his lips press into a thin line.
copperized's fic:
Kane places his hands on Jonathan’s shoulders as Jonathan unlocks their hotel room door. Kane can feel Jonathan’s body tense with this action. Jonathan half-turns his head, his lips pressed into a thin line.
acidpop25's fic:
"Arthur," he purrs, "it's late, you should be in bed. Preferably mine."
copperized's fic:
Kane sighs, gets up and presses his hands on to Jonathan’s shoulders. “So then, come to bed. Preferably mine.”
acidpop25's fic:
"You wouldn't still put up with me if you didn't like me."
"I never said I didn't like you," Arthur replies calmly. "Quite the contrary."
copperized's fic:
"...let’s be honest, if you didn’t like me, you wouldn’t still be rooming with me.”
Jonny looks up at that statement. “Who said I didn’t like you?”
…
“Look, Pat. I’ve never said I didn’t like you. Quite the opposite actually. I’ve liked you for a while."
acidpop25's fic:
"I read the articles you gave me."
Arthur nods. "And?" He can't quite keep the anxiety out of his voice; Eames wonders if he's ever told anyone about this before.
"And I want to know if it's just sex you won't have, or relationships."
"Oh." It doesn't look like that was the question he expected. "I... um. In theory I'd like a romantic relationship. I've never really had one, though." He looks down at his hands as he says it, and the uncertainty in the usually confident man is at once endearing and heart-wrenching. Eames swallows hard and makes up his mind.
"Well, in that case," he says, "can I take you out for dinner sometime?"
copperized's fic:
“I read them.”
Jonny nods, and clicks his key chain; the distinctive beep fills the parking garage. “What’d you think?” ...
“So … um ... is it just sex?”
“Sorry?”
“Do you ever have relationships, Jonny?”
“Oh.” Kane can hear the slight inflection in Jonny’s voice. Clearly it was not the question he was expecting. “Well, I … uh …” Kane can see as Jonny’s cheeks flush. “I have had relationships in the past. Never ones that lasted though.” Jonny looks down at his hands, and fiddles with his keys. Kane can hear the uncertainty in his tone, which strikes him as odd, seeing as how he has always seen Jonny as this picture perfect face of calm and confidence.
“So, uh … how does this work?” Kane asks dumbly.
Jonny looks up, relief evident in his stare. “Well, I hear most relationships start with a date?”
Kane can’t help but smile. “Would you like to have dinner with me some time, Jonny?”
acidpop25's fic:
"Well," Eames says, after the bill is paid, "I guess we should get back before Cobb comes looking for us."
"Probably," Arthur agrees, a little reluctantly, and they head for the car.
He slips his hand into Eames' and doesn't let go until they reach the warehouse door.
copperized's fic:
“I guess we should get back before they send out an APB,” Kane says as their bill is settled.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Jonathan agrees, even though Kane can hear the reluctance colouring his tone.
...Jonny slips his hand into Pat’s and doesn’t let it go until they are inside their hotel room.
acidpop25's fic:
"Do you want to stay over?" Arthur asks, and Eames raises his eyebrows.
"You want me to?"
Arthur's lips twitch. "There's sleeping with me, and there's having sex. As long as we're clear that it's the former, I don't see why not."
"We're clear," Eames agrees, and kisses the top of his head.
copperized's fic:
“It’s late. You can stay if you want.”
Pat raises a questioning eyebrow at him, which earns him a soft peal of laughter.
“There’s sharing the same bed, and having sex. Just so long as we both know it’s the former rather than the latter, then why not?”
Pat nods, and kisses Jonny’s forehead.
acidpop25's fic:
"Where are you going?" he murmurs, voice sleep-rough and muffled by the pillow.
"Just leaving you to rest."
"Mm." Arthur turns over to face Eames, watching him from under his eyelashes. "Because you're afraid to wake me, or because you're turned on?"
copperized's fic:
“Going somewhere?” Jonny asks, his voice thick with sleep and grogginess.
“Just … uh … bathroom. You can still rest.”
“Humph,” Jonny says, rolling onto his stomach, and staring at Pat, his brown eyes disarming and full of laughter. “Are you really concerned with me getting more z’s, Kaner, or is it because you woke up with a hard on?”
acidpop25's fic:
Arthur flushes a deep pink. "There are things other than sex."
A smirk tugs at Eames' lips in spite of himself. "Is this your uncomfortable way of offering me a handjob, Arthur?"
He goes even redder. "We could at least try it."
Eames' cock twitches in his boxers. "You sure?"
"Relationships are about compromise," Arthur says reasonably. "Look, Eames, I'm not scared of your body, it's not like that. So, bedroom?"
copperized's fic:
Jonny flushes a pink colour. “I know. We could … well … there are other things besides sex.”
Pat can’t help the laughter that escapes his mouth. “Why, Jonny is this your way of offering me a hand job?”
Jonny’s face is bright red now. “Sometimes you have to compromise in relationships in order for them to work. It’s worth a shot.”
acidpop25's fic:
"I'm kind of a waste of this, aren't I?"
"You couldn't possibly be a waste, darli- oh."
copperized's fic:
“Seems like I’m a waste of this.”
Pat chuckles softly. “Don’t be silly, Jonny, you could nev - oh.”
acidpop25's fic:
"I wish there was something I could do for you."
Arthur nuzzles into Eames' neck. "Actually..."
"Yes?"
"How are you at back rubs?"
Eames grins. "Amazing," he answers, "lie down and lose the shirt."
copperized's fic:
“It’d be nice if I could do something for you.”
“Well …”
“Ask away. Anything … within reason of course,” Pat replies.
Jonny gives a cat-like stretch and passes a hand through Pat’s hair. “How about a back rub?”
Pat grins. “That, I can do. Take off your shirt.”
/////
So much for brevity.
acidpop25 is, as far as I know, still not aware of what happened. I wanted to wait to see what she had to say in regards to this, but as I said above, copperized doesn't seem willing to acknowledge that the plagiarism took place at all. Also, s/he stated in the updated author's notes that s/he plans on continuing the story, but the "old" (read: plagiarised) version didn't leave much room for continuation. I just don't think that's fair to anyone in fandom.
ETA: It has been brought to my attention that this is second time copperized has been accused of plagiarism in Inception fandom. At the time, their username was xushi, but they have since renamed. Information about that can be found on inception_kink here.
ETA2: More links brought to my attention:
copperized's Circling Back to You (Bleach): screenshot
redblaze's Homecoming Surprise (HP) here. RedBlaze has been notified, as well.
ETA3: copperized has now modified the header for SDIABR to acknowledge that she did plagiarize acidpop25's story and "accepts full responsibility." She also sent me a message to this effect, saying she plans to make amends (and copied me the message she is sending to acidpop25). She has also deleted the above story Circling Back to You. But, considering this is the second time in six months she's been publicly outed for plagiarizing, I don't see this being an end to it.
ETA4: I've been notified of more plagiarized stories! You'd think after being busted for plagiarizing simons_flower a few months ago, she would take these down, but I guess not. More ETA forthcoming, I suppose. *sigh*
copperized's In Flagrente Delecto (Ace Attorney): here // screenshot
simons_flower's Keeper (HP): here
copperized's Ten Minute Recess (Ace Attorney): here // screenshot
simons_flower's Club (HP): here
Ongoing ETA: I guess I'll keep updating this ETA with every new fic I find, as well as notifying the authors if I can. [[note: I'll keep editing the public post on my journal as more fics are found after 3/24]]
copperized's The Many Uses of Law (Law & Order): here // screenshot
inadaze22's Master (HP): here
copperized's Conversation is Overrated (Law & Order: CI): here // screenshot
Anna's Jewel of the Nile (HP), chapter 15: here
///
03/26: As reported by the amazing ashes_and_wings @ stop_plagiarism who has done so much work while I was away from the internet. (Note: I've also contacted the moderators of springkink as some of these stories have been posted there as well.)
copperized's London Bombs (Bleach): screenshot
inadaze22's Any Given Friday: Transatlantic (HP): here
copperized's Counting Raindrops (Bleach): screenshot
inadaze22's Ceiling Tiles (HP): here
copperized's Absence of Fear (Bleach): screenshot // link from her journal to the original post on a Bleach anonmeme: here
redblaze's With Him (HP): here
copperized's A Kiss over Sake (Bleach): screenshot
inell's Desire (HP): here
///
03/27: Note: copperized also posted fic at the now-deleted journal accendonoxnocto. Some of these stories are capped from there.
copperized's The Pleasure Principle (Bleach): screenshot
simons_flower's A Little Something Between Friends (HP): here
copperized's Anam Cara (Bleach): screenshot
thegreatmissjj's Strands of Grey (HP): here
copperized's In a Manner of Speaking (Bleach): screenshot
inadaze22's Japanese Blossoms (HP): here
copperized's Beauty on the Fire (Bleach): screenshot
redblaze's Lovely (HP): here
copperized's Give into Me (Bleach): screenshot
Anna's Roman Holiday (HP), chapter 6: here
Yesterday, copperized posted a fic called Slow Dancing in a Burning Room in Hockey RPF fandom which seemed rather similar to me. Note: fic has since been changed.
I pulled up LWMY and SDINBR side by side. I was really, really sad when I realized that the two are identical. Almost 90-95% of copperized's story is either lifted verbatim from acidpop25's story, or it's paraphrased to fit the characters in the differing fandoms.
At this point, I did a little digging. I wanted to make sure they weren't the same person, or something. I noticed that copperized has written Arthur/Eames in Inception fandom, and as LWMY is fairly well-known in that circle, I decided to send messages to both acidpop25 (who is still on vacation, to my knowledge) and copperized saying I thought the stories seemed rather similar. copperized sent me a return message saying, I stumbled across the fic so long ago, skimmed it over and forgot it even existed. Needless to say I'll be going back to revise mine… Thanks for noticing my faux pas.
So I started screencapping. Lo and behold, copperized locked the fic. I'm sorry, I don't buy "oops, my b" as an excuse for blatant plagiarism. If you look at the screencaps or read the exerpts below, you will realize there is no way this could have happened. If you forget something even exists, how can you recreate it almost word for word with find;replace for character names?
And here's the rub. copperized "wrote" this story as a response to a prompt on an anonmeme. S/he could have easily posted the story anon, but chose to instead post it in their own journal and put their name on it. I then contacted the mod in charge of the anonmeme, who deleted the link to the story. When an anon asked where the fill went, hockeykmod responded that it had been deleted due to a report of plagiarism. copperized responded to that saying the plagiarism wasn't intentional.
As of this morning, copperized has unlocked the same post with his/her new story instead of the plagiarised one -- not one word about acidpop25's story, the accusation of plagiarism or any mention at all of what happened yesterday. Since copperized refuses to acknowledge that s/he did plagiarise this story and because people seem to still be commenting on his/her new story, I feel compelled to make this information public. copperized has been a prolific writer in many fandoms. I don't know if this has happened before, and honestly I don't know that much about many of her written fandoms to be the judge in regards to that.
Screencaps: Author's Notes / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15
For brevity's sake, as the overwhelming majority of the two fics are the same, I'm including excerpts of the most blatant lifts.
acidpop25's fic:
Arthur's shoulders tense up when he feels Eames' hands settle on them, and his lips press into a thin line.
copperized's fic:
Kane places his hands on Jonathan’s shoulders as Jonathan unlocks their hotel room door. Kane can feel Jonathan’s body tense with this action. Jonathan half-turns his head, his lips pressed into a thin line.
acidpop25's fic:
"Arthur," he purrs, "it's late, you should be in bed. Preferably mine."
copperized's fic:
Kane sighs, gets up and presses his hands on to Jonathan’s shoulders. “So then, come to bed. Preferably mine.”
acidpop25's fic:
"You wouldn't still put up with me if you didn't like me."
"I never said I didn't like you," Arthur replies calmly. "Quite the contrary."
copperized's fic:
"...let’s be honest, if you didn’t like me, you wouldn’t still be rooming with me.”
Jonny looks up at that statement. “Who said I didn’t like you?”
…
“Look, Pat. I’ve never said I didn’t like you. Quite the opposite actually. I’ve liked you for a while."
acidpop25's fic:
"I read the articles you gave me."
Arthur nods. "And?" He can't quite keep the anxiety out of his voice; Eames wonders if he's ever told anyone about this before.
"And I want to know if it's just sex you won't have, or relationships."
"Oh." It doesn't look like that was the question he expected. "I... um. In theory I'd like a romantic relationship. I've never really had one, though." He looks down at his hands as he says it, and the uncertainty in the usually confident man is at once endearing and heart-wrenching. Eames swallows hard and makes up his mind.
"Well, in that case," he says, "can I take you out for dinner sometime?"
copperized's fic:
“I read them.”
Jonny nods, and clicks his key chain; the distinctive beep fills the parking garage. “What’d you think?” ...
“So … um ... is it just sex?”
“Sorry?”
“Do you ever have relationships, Jonny?”
“Oh.” Kane can hear the slight inflection in Jonny’s voice. Clearly it was not the question he was expecting. “Well, I … uh …” Kane can see as Jonny’s cheeks flush. “I have had relationships in the past. Never ones that lasted though.” Jonny looks down at his hands, and fiddles with his keys. Kane can hear the uncertainty in his tone, which strikes him as odd, seeing as how he has always seen Jonny as this picture perfect face of calm and confidence.
“So, uh … how does this work?” Kane asks dumbly.
Jonny looks up, relief evident in his stare. “Well, I hear most relationships start with a date?”
Kane can’t help but smile. “Would you like to have dinner with me some time, Jonny?”
acidpop25's fic:
"Well," Eames says, after the bill is paid, "I guess we should get back before Cobb comes looking for us."
"Probably," Arthur agrees, a little reluctantly, and they head for the car.
He slips his hand into Eames' and doesn't let go until they reach the warehouse door.
copperized's fic:
“I guess we should get back before they send out an APB,” Kane says as their bill is settled.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Jonathan agrees, even though Kane can hear the reluctance colouring his tone.
...Jonny slips his hand into Pat’s and doesn’t let it go until they are inside their hotel room.
acidpop25's fic:
"Do you want to stay over?" Arthur asks, and Eames raises his eyebrows.
"You want me to?"
Arthur's lips twitch. "There's sleeping with me, and there's having sex. As long as we're clear that it's the former, I don't see why not."
"We're clear," Eames agrees, and kisses the top of his head.
copperized's fic:
“It’s late. You can stay if you want.”
Pat raises a questioning eyebrow at him, which earns him a soft peal of laughter.
“There’s sharing the same bed, and having sex. Just so long as we both know it’s the former rather than the latter, then why not?”
Pat nods, and kisses Jonny’s forehead.
acidpop25's fic:
"Where are you going?" he murmurs, voice sleep-rough and muffled by the pillow.
"Just leaving you to rest."
"Mm." Arthur turns over to face Eames, watching him from under his eyelashes. "Because you're afraid to wake me, or because you're turned on?"
copperized's fic:
“Going somewhere?” Jonny asks, his voice thick with sleep and grogginess.
“Just … uh … bathroom. You can still rest.”
“Humph,” Jonny says, rolling onto his stomach, and staring at Pat, his brown eyes disarming and full of laughter. “Are you really concerned with me getting more z’s, Kaner, or is it because you woke up with a hard on?”
acidpop25's fic:
Arthur flushes a deep pink. "There are things other than sex."
A smirk tugs at Eames' lips in spite of himself. "Is this your uncomfortable way of offering me a handjob, Arthur?"
He goes even redder. "We could at least try it."
Eames' cock twitches in his boxers. "You sure?"
"Relationships are about compromise," Arthur says reasonably. "Look, Eames, I'm not scared of your body, it's not like that. So, bedroom?"
copperized's fic:
Jonny flushes a pink colour. “I know. We could … well … there are other things besides sex.”
Pat can’t help the laughter that escapes his mouth. “Why, Jonny is this your way of offering me a hand job?”
Jonny’s face is bright red now. “Sometimes you have to compromise in relationships in order for them to work. It’s worth a shot.”
acidpop25's fic:
"I'm kind of a waste of this, aren't I?"
"You couldn't possibly be a waste, darli- oh."
copperized's fic:
“Seems like I’m a waste of this.”
Pat chuckles softly. “Don’t be silly, Jonny, you could nev - oh.”
acidpop25's fic:
"I wish there was something I could do for you."
Arthur nuzzles into Eames' neck. "Actually..."
"Yes?"
"How are you at back rubs?"
Eames grins. "Amazing," he answers, "lie down and lose the shirt."
copperized's fic:
“It’d be nice if I could do something for you.”
“Well …”
“Ask away. Anything … within reason of course,” Pat replies.
Jonny gives a cat-like stretch and passes a hand through Pat’s hair. “How about a back rub?”
Pat grins. “That, I can do. Take off your shirt.”
/////
So much for brevity.
acidpop25 is, as far as I know, still not aware of what happened. I wanted to wait to see what she had to say in regards to this, but as I said above, copperized doesn't seem willing to acknowledge that the plagiarism took place at all. Also, s/he stated in the updated author's notes that s/he plans on continuing the story, but the "old" (read: plagiarised) version didn't leave much room for continuation. I just don't think that's fair to anyone in fandom.
ETA: It has been brought to my attention that this is second time copperized has been accused of plagiarism in Inception fandom. At the time, their username was xushi, but they have since renamed. Information about that can be found on inception_kink here.
ETA2: More links brought to my attention:
copperized's Circling Back to You (Bleach): screenshot
redblaze's Homecoming Surprise (HP) here. RedBlaze has been notified, as well.
ETA3: copperized has now modified the header for SDIABR to acknowledge that she did plagiarize acidpop25's story and "accepts full responsibility." She also sent me a message to this effect, saying she plans to make amends (and copied me the message she is sending to acidpop25). She has also deleted the above story Circling Back to You. But, considering this is the second time in six months she's been publicly outed for plagiarizing, I don't see this being an end to it.
ETA4: I've been notified of more plagiarized stories! You'd think after being busted for plagiarizing simons_flower a few months ago, she would take these down, but I guess not. More ETA forthcoming, I suppose. *sigh*
copperized's In Flagrente Delecto (Ace Attorney): here // screenshot
simons_flower's Keeper (HP): here
copperized's Ten Minute Recess (Ace Attorney): here // screenshot
simons_flower's Club (HP): here
Ongoing ETA: I guess I'll keep updating this ETA with every new fic I find, as well as notifying the authors if I can. [[note: I'll keep editing the public post on my journal as more fics are found after 3/24]]
copperized's The Many Uses of Law (Law & Order): here // screenshot
inadaze22's Master (HP): here
copperized's Conversation is Overrated (Law & Order: CI): here // screenshot
Anna's Jewel of the Nile (HP), chapter 15: here
///
03/26: As reported by the amazing ashes_and_wings @ stop_plagiarism who has done so much work while I was away from the internet. (Note: I've also contacted the moderators of springkink as some of these stories have been posted there as well.)
copperized's London Bombs (Bleach): screenshot
inadaze22's Any Given Friday: Transatlantic (HP): here
copperized's Counting Raindrops (Bleach): screenshot
inadaze22's Ceiling Tiles (HP): here
copperized's Absence of Fear (Bleach): screenshot // link from her journal to the original post on a Bleach anonmeme: here
redblaze's With Him (HP): here
copperized's A Kiss over Sake (Bleach): screenshot
inell's Desire (HP): here
///
03/27: Note: copperized also posted fic at the now-deleted journal accendonoxnocto. Some of these stories are capped from there.
copperized's The Pleasure Principle (Bleach): screenshot
simons_flower's A Little Something Between Friends (HP): here
copperized's Anam Cara (Bleach): screenshot
thegreatmissjj's Strands of Grey (HP): here
copperized's In a Manner of Speaking (Bleach): screenshot
inadaze22's Japanese Blossoms (HP): here
copperized's Beauty on the Fire (Bleach): screenshot
redblaze's Lovely (HP): here
copperized's Give into Me (Bleach): screenshot
Anna's Roman Holiday (HP), chapter 6: here