Famous Faces of Plagiarism
Click on a photograph to read a tale of plagiarism.
Stephen Ambrose (1936-2002), a highly regarded historian and writer, was accused of plagiarizing several passages of one of his later books. Although Ambrose had noted the original sources in footnotes, he had neglected to use quotation marks for passages he reproduced. Plagiarism stained Ambrose's reputation even after his death.
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Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan (born 1987) authored her first novel at the age of 17. A major publisher offered her a six-figure advance and released the book in 2006. DreamWorks SKG bought the rights to make it into a movie. Everything was great for Kaavya until a reader found that she had plagiarized passages from another writer.
Viswanathan's novel was pulled from bookstores and DreamWorks dropped the film project. Her career as a novelist may have come to an embarrassing end.
Photo source: Associated Press
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George Harrison (1943-2001), formerly of the Beatles, was accused of musical copyright infringement of the Chiffon's "He's So Fine" in his own song, "My Sweet Lord." A judge ruled that Harrison had subconsciously plagiarized the 1962 tune, ordering him to pay $587,000 in damages.
The case continued for over 20 years. Plagiarism cost Harrison a great deal of legal time and money.
Photo source: georgeharrison.com
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