Consequences

Plagiarism may occur more often than is commonly realized because it often goes undetected. One issue is that not a lot of people are looking for it, but another is that it often goes unrecognized even when the source material is well known (the chapter includes examples of a lack of recognition of “Pride and Prejudice” and the screenplay for “Casablanca”). In other cases, authors like Mark Twain appropriated stories they believed were free for the taking but which had, in fact, been published previously. The reverse occurs as well: some precocious children, including those who went on to become celebrated authors, were accused of plagiarizing because their juvenile efforts were judged as “too good.” And some alleged plagiarists, such as Melania Trump, have been dogged by baseless accusations of appropriation for as long as they remained in the public eye. In addition, authors who were the victims of plagiarism have seen their career trajectories altered or have even abandoned writing altogether. And a fear of plagiarizing seems to hover over many authors, with some going out of their way to avoid reading too much and running the risk of unconscious plagiarism.