Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Reading this it makes it sound as if plagiarism is a significant issue in publishing. I know there's been the occasional well-publicised case, but it is REALLY a widespread problem?
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Really, it's not. I was a journalist for years, and was constantly hearing people complain about ringing up papers with an idea and the paper stole their idea. No, it didn't. In general ideas were triggered by the same thing (ghost stories at halloween, for instance) and the features editor had already told a staffer to do a feature on ghost stories before the free lancer rang up.
If someone did come up with an original idea, the editor would say "Yes, write that and send it to me".
Same with novels. It's easier all round just to pay the person who wrote the great novel, rather than try to steal it and cope with the flack the results.