Not really. I'm guessing everyone here knows better than that. Not that we haven't had a few plagiarism issues from time to time in the fandom, but they've been blessedly rare.
So...
Did anyone catch the
Cooks Source debacle going on today?
They apparently lifted her period piece about apple pie and printed it [though they did apparently give her credit]. She emailed them asking for an apology and a donation [amounting to .10 a word] to be given to a journalism school. This was the [eventual] response from the editor:
"Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was "my bad" indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things.
But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!"
There's now a Facebook page set up for other violations to be reported - including Paula Deen, Weight Watchers, and even a Disney subsidiary.
And the rewrites? 'Fixed' the period piece spellings etc and made them modern. That doesn't so much improve a period piece...
Of course, if this somehow ends up being a big ole hoax, then I may as well have apple pie on my face...
[While I suppose it's possible this case is, that many reported ones seems unlikely to me.]
