Ripped off?

Click here to see what all the buzz is about. It's been said that her rights as an artist weren't protected, and it makes me really consider the word "plagiarize." This brings me to my next subject:

BOOKS!

If you didn't already know, I'm an L.J. Smith fan and a certain author who shall not be named has a remarkably similar story line as one of her night world series plots. To make matters worse, said author has TWO chapters that start off with the same sentences as Smith's novel.(and the sentences aren't brief descriptions. oh no they lead in deja vu chapters, too) Now, I'm not one to point a finger, but where did originality go? Has it vanished? Will plagiarism increase steadily over time?

What about self-published books? Are they checked for plagiarism? Is it a possible for them to write rip off novels of best-sellers and make money off it by selling them for half the price? I'm sure you've heard about Thomas Nelson's self-publishing division. Could that be used as a cheap way to make a buck with some knock-offs? I sure hope not, and yes, I've realized I'm probably the only one who thinks of crazy scenarios like this.

A professor of mine pointed out some frightening statistics. TEACHERS, that's right teachers, plagiarize as much as their students. How you ask? Well, they print out handouts and such from other teacher sites and pass it off as their own. Crazy, right?

All of this makes me wonder how far some people will push until they get label "plagiarizer." Granted, story ideas are a dime a dozen and most have been done in some form or another, but why oh why are there DUPLICATED sentences being dropped into novels? Maybe if I wasn't so obsessed with Smith, I would've never picked up on it, but, well, I am.

And, now for some UK book signing news that has absolutely nothing to do with the matter click here.