I recently came across a very poignant article in one of the social networks I belong to titled, "Confession of a Police Officer." It was noted that the author was "unknown."
As one who pens crime fiction, I could tell the piece was written from the heart. It spoke to me louder than anything else I've read in quite some time and I couldn't get the feel of the essay or the words out of my head. Since there was no notation of a copyright on it or information about the author, I posted the piece on my character blog, http://samharpercrimescene.blogspot.com. Thank goodness I did, because hours later, I received a note from the author.
Jill Wragg is a retired Police Officer from Massachusetts and wrote the essay in 2001. It was published in several English speaking countries and is copyrighted material. Somewhere along the way, one person took the liberty to change a few of the words, made it sound as if a man had written it, and passed it off as his own. A double whammy that should fire every author and woman on the planet. She confronted the individual who took her work as his. Later the same piece started to circulate around the net as "author unknown."
For those who are concerned about plagiarism, here's proof that it does happen. Protect your work. Always place the copyright information at the top of the piece and keep an original electronic copy of your work that shows the date it was written (© [YOUR NAME] [YEAR WRITTEN] all rights reserved). This won't deter people from copying your work, but it will be your only proof of ownership. Don't post entire stories or manuscripts on the web especially if you intend to seek publication. Set up a Google Alert for your name, the titles of your works, your blogs, etc. I've found several of my articles posted on other sites without my permission. Fortunately, those individuals did acknowledge me as the author.
I'm thrilled that Wragg gave me permission to reprint the original piece with acknowledgment, etc. It's posted on the Sam Harper Crime Scene blog today.
If you have a chance, please stop by and read it. This isn't about the like or dislike of genre, but insight into what life is like for the men and women in law enforcement, and the rights of authors.
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Marta Stephens writes crime mystery/suspense. Her books are available online at familiar shops such as all the Amazons, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, and Powells. Other locations include, but are not limited to those listed on her website.
THE DEVIL CAN WAIT (November 3, 2008)
SILENCED CRY (2007) Honorable Mention, 2008 New York Book Festival
Top Ten, 2007 Preditors and Editors Reader Poll (mystery)
Visit Sam Harper at http://www.samharpercrimescene.blogspot.com
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Comments: 22
attention.
Just type in the name or topic you want to receive alerts on in the "search terms" and fillling in your e-mail address. It's THAT simple.
Be sure to put quotation marks around specific words in your search if you want to narrow the search to an exact phrase. I didn't know that when I set up an alert for my blog, MURDER BY 4. You wouldn't believe the alerts I received. :()
Thanks so much for stopping by.
It seems there are certain things an author can do to fight back. She wrote about her experience here: http://apps.debrashiveleywelch.net/blog/?e=21618&d=01/09/2009&s=Taking%20Down%20a%20Plagiarist
Plagiarism is alive and well on Gather, as usual. I just commented on an "article" that was a blatant cut and paste of a wire service story. The offender just deleted my comment.
If this person was even a little bit honest, she would have refuted my comment.
It's a disgrace..
Jill Wragg and I exchanged several e-mails yesterday, one in which she mentioned how difficult it was to get people to either posted the actual document and acknowledge her as the author or remove the article from their site.
She thanked me for being "a good person" and I appreciate it, but the reason I immediately made the change on my blog as soon as I heard from her was because it was the right and honorable thing to do. I'd expect nothing less from anyone who copied my work.
The crazy thing is, we never know when our next friend or contact will come from. She said she was always looking for new books to read and would look mine up; I asked if I could use her as a resource on future writings. Honesty is still the best policy.
This is wonderful information.