Lotripper

I've read a hell of a lot of LOTR RPS, and I've never seen one which used the exact words of the original, without author credit.

But the evidence of extensive copying and pasting of text in the published version of namarie120's story "A Hidden Passage", about her incorporation of original text from "Jane Eyre", is compelling. I admire caras_galadhon for bringing out into the open.

My problem with this the situation is that the author accepted the praise, awards, and publication as though she deserved credit. If she'd said something about how great a writer Charlotte Brontë was, and explained that a huge part of the story was lifted from the original, that would have been appropriate attribution. Accepting those compliments was more than just a lie, and accepting the award it wronged the writers who wrote every word of their fic.

( the original fanfic Disclaimer and the published Author's Note )

an anon said: i was betrayed by someone i trusted. i was made to feel a fool for lavishing praise on someone who claimed someone else's work..

That makes me very sad. I don't want namarie120 to delete her journal and run away. What I'd like to have seen, and to see now, would be an acknowledgment that large parts of the story were not hers, an apology for misleading people, and for her to return the Slashy Oscar award so it can be given to the runner up.

What should we do next time, if we see something in a fic that's way too familiar? I don't really know, but in this case, emailing to her clearly did not work, because several people tried that. Perhaps friends in a group could approach the author and encourage her or him to come clean. And, as a final step, posting to a journal or to a community might be necessary. Because it's a moral and ethical error to plagiarize, and the faster we get it over with, the better. Anyone with other thoughts or useful experience, please tell me, I want to know!

More useful posts on this topic by caras_galadhon (the original post), slashfairy's meditation on it, telesilla's lively discussion, and jasmineskie's comment.

To end on an up note (via ruuger), a fabulous pastiche with a very distinctive and un-Brontë voice: Jayne Eyre!

I'm not doing nanowrimo, as I don't seem to have a novel in me waiting to get out. I do have some WIPs that I adore, so I am doing wrisomifu aka Write Something, You Miserable Fuck, because I want to get them done and posted so (maybe someone else can love them too).

Join us! WriSoMiFu - So you suck. Nobody cares. (Because we all do, too.)

(wording gacked from apple_pi)

ETA: "membership will be open to new members until midnight (PST) on Thursday, November 1", but current members have to send them names to invite. So I will OF COURSE!