There was a recent story in The Guardian about Quentin Tarantino’s girlfriend, Lianne MacDougall, who writes for the website fearnet.com under the name Lianne Spiderbaby. She was accused of copying material from several other online writers in her articles.
On May 29, 2013, The Guardian reported that a letter written by author Rudyard Kipling in 1895 had come to auction. In the letter, it is purported that Kipling admitted to plagiarizing portions of The Jungle Book.
Plagiarism is on the rise, not only in the world of academic, but also in the arts, design and fashion. At what point does appropriation cross the ethical boundaries and becomes plagiarism or violation of intellectual property?
Just last month, the Grand Rabbi in France, Gilles Bernheim, resigned from his post after multiple plagiarism accusations and academic fraud.
If you are surprised to hear of the plagiarism accusations, you have possibly committed accidental plagiarism. The first thing to remember is to keep calm so that you can respond in a clear-headed manner without getting overly emotional.