www.inkthinkerblog.com — This whole plagiarism thing has gone too far. I’ve been following the Opal Mehta fiasco pretty closely, and last week’s New York Times article “A Second Ripple in the Plagiarism Scandal”
put me over the edge.
The article, prompted by observations from an as-yet-unnamed reader, suggests that Kaavya Viswanathan, author of the recently controversial How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life plagiarized from not just one, but two or possibly three books in writing her own. It had already been revealed publicly that several passages in Opal Mehta bear striking and disturbing resemblance to passages from Megan McCafferty’s Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings. I haven’t read those books personally, but the examples provided in the Boston Globe article “‘Opal Mehta’ vs. ‘Sloppy Firsts’” are compelling enough to make me suspicious–although it’s worth pointing out that Kaavya did put her own spin on things. Now hold that thought for a minute while we swing back to the recent NYT article.
In “A Second Ripple,” the writers point out some “similarities” to Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret? (which, btw, I heartily recommend if you’re looking for a fun read). I can see what they’re talking about with the “animal rights” passages, sure. But the Donna Karan/My Little Pony passage? Give me a break! And the detail about the love interest with dark eyes and a scar? Yeah, and…? I know lots of people who eyes so dark that they’re almost black, and I’ve pointed it out before. In fact, there’s a guy I used to see on the train all the time who has both almost-black eyes and a scar on his hand. And I’ve definitely threatened to tell “all the ___ in the ____” or just plain “everyone” about something. Perhaps there’s more compelling evidence somewhere that has not yet been disclosed, but considering only what is presented in this article, it sounds to me like they’re groping for straws here. And again, in all of these passages, it’s worth noting that Kaavya did put her own spin on things.
This is not to say that it’s okay to just take someone else’s words, change a few things around, and slap your own name on it. However, just because two people happened to say similar things does NOT automatically make it plagiarism. How about grabbing five or six other chick lit books and checking for the similarities between them? These authors write in a certain way because it works for the genre–of course they’re going to have similarities in situations and tone. Extended passages that are clearly lifted from someone else’s work are one thing, but I think we may have moved on to talking about something else entirely.
I used the phrase “striking…resemblance” a few paragraphs ago. Several of these articles refer to a “striking resemblance” or “striking similarity.” Does that make us all plagiarists? What about every Greek poet who waxed eloquent about the “wine-dark sea”? Let’s face it, folks: Cliches and stereotypes exist for a reason–they’ve become part of the common vernacular through frequent use. Much like the tall, dark, and handsome male lead (and extra points if he’s a bad boy with a scar). Much like “full-scale” and “full-fledged” debates about any pertinent topic. Much like girlfriends teasing one another by threatening to reaveal a deep, dark secret. Much like a teenage girl’s internal monologue as she tries to navigate an encounter with a member of the opposite sex. There’s no denying that the similarities are there. But they’re in other books, too. When you’re dealing with similar situations and a similar target audience, it’s natural to fall into a formula that works. The structure of Kaavya’s sentences is close to those held up for comparison, but although the content is similar, the end result differs.
You may feel differently, but I have to feel bad for this kid–this is just the beginning. She was in the spotlight a few months ago for being young and incredibly talented; now she’s just young and incredibly screwed. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few other examples of so-called plagiarism pop up in conjunction with Opal Mehta now that that’s where all the focus is. But if readers were to scrutinize pretty much any other book in the genre, don’t you think they’d find something there, too? And if the structure is the same (subject + verb + direct object + indirect object) but the content is different, is it fair to label it plagiarism? Would it be fair for The Cure to sue Black 47, Good Charlotte, or She Wants Revenge for being influenced by their music? We’re talking about a genre with a fairly homogenous readership and a finite set of situations and storylines that are popular right now–there’s bound to be some overlap.
Make up your own mind. Here’s some recommended reading on the subject:
“Harvard author faces scrutiny: Novel compared with earlier book,” The Boston Globe, April 24, 2006
“‘Opal Mehta’ vs. ‘Sloppy Firsts’,” Boston Globe, April 24, 2006
“Harvard Novelist Says Copying Was Unintentional,” New York Times, April 25, 2006
“Not Novel Enough, Teen’s Book Recalled,” Los Angeles Times, April 28, 2006
“Kaavya’s so not happy ending,” Los Angeles Times, April 29, 2006
“A Second Ripple in Plagiarism Scandal,” New York Times, May 2, 2006
Commentary by Lori Widmer at the Words On The Page blog, May 5, 2006
Have you seen another article that should be included? E-mail me the link and I’ll add it to the list: kristen@kristenkingfreelancing.com.
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Contents Copyright © 2006-2014 Kristen King
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Hear hear, Kristen! While there are definitely similarities and similar passages, I highly doubt that Opal Mehta is anything like Sloppy Firsts, or any of the other stories allegedly pilfered from.
It’s a media lynching. Yes, she screwed up by imitating too closely her favorite authors. Do I think she’s guilty of plagiarism? Highly unlikely. She’s guilty of taking the imitation lesson a wee bit too far. I don’t care if she’s 19 or 49 – my response would be the same. I question the plagiarism charge on the entire book. On the passages in question (and what the hell is with that NYTimes nonsense about Donna Karan and My Little Pony being anywhere near similar?), she’s admitted to the plagiarism. On the entire book, I would venture to guess she didn’t. We’ll never know–I didn’t buy a copy when I had the chance.
Kristen,
You succinctly and thoughtfully wrote what I’ve been thinking about this whole situation. My heart is aching for the author, and I appreciate so much your well-thought out post on the subject. I’ll just forward this along to my husband, now, who wasn’t understanding my point of view on the subject :). Thanks!
Janel
There’s plagarism, there’s respectful emulation, and then there are standard phrases in the language and culture, which nobody owns.
If some self-appointed watchdog is going to cruise the Net (and search Bartleby and Questia) for phrases (not paragraphs or chapters, but sentences), of course they’ll find some detail practically any work to howl about. Perhaps that’s one reason publishers should look for authors with more reading in their backgrounds, to avoid the risk of a writer’s blundering into too-much-imitation. Somebody needs to get a life.
On the other side of the coin, there are several examples in the professional media, of trying to make proprietary, that which is in common use. Consider the court case raging in Britain now, over use of “Apple” as a trade name – the Beatles’ music company or Steve Wozniak’s and Steve Jobs’ computer company. I don’t think either company has created “market confusion.” (“Mom! I went to the store to buy a Beatles CD, and all they had were these computers! I’m so confused!”) Not likely.
My favorite predatory copyright story is that of Howard Hughes in the early 1950’s, when he was in the movie business. He sued other movie producers for infringement, because they had used phrases like “Stick ’em up!” and “Head ’em off at the pass” in other Westerns. Of course, the defendants proved “prior art” (prior use indicating that Hughes had not originated the phrases and had no right of ownership) and Hughes lost. But it was still expensive and time-consuming for the other studios. However, Hughes had made his point, by becoming a thorn in their side. Point: Intellectual property laws do not ensure “fairness.”
There’s no excuse for plagarism, especially when attribution is so easy. If you must include a phrase, reference it! That’s a win-win: the referenced author gets a little ink, and the author gets to make the intended point (and perhaps with a louder and more credible voice, by invoking the reference). Even a few unattributed passages will cast a shadow over an entire work, masking the author’s intended message.
As for Kaavya the Freshman who even though she got into Harvard, is so narrowly-read that she doesn’t recognize lifted text and doesn’t recognize a cliche when she writes one, that’s what a rigorous English major curriculum is for. In four years, she’ll probably look back at the incident and laugh, even though her publisher won’t. And the publisher will probably scrutinize manuscripts from new authors a little more carefully.
Yes, it’s a tempest in a teapot, but one with a lesson for all writers.
I.
I touched on that topic in one of my blog entries last week. I think there are lots of similarities in chick lit, because now they want to conform to formula instead of to unique voices.
Under stress a few months back, I read about six or seven chick lits back to back, just to give my brain a rest. I can’t tell you the titles or authors of any of them; I can’t differentiate between them. They all shared a voice, although all were written by different people. They were almost identical.
Frankly, I think it was the publisher’s job to catch flat-out plagarism as the safety net to an author either plagarizing or not realizing how similar her work sounds. Publishers are SUPPOSED to look for unique voices, not the same retread.
The publisher/editors failed as much as the author in this case.
They’re focusing on the author because she’s young and got a $500,000 advnace. If it was a $5,000 advance, I guarantee no one would have even noticed.
And, again, it points out one of the cancers in the industry. Keep advances reasonable and don’t only push a single title because you’ve given this ridiculous advance to a newcomer. Build the audience, build the support for an author over time and a body of work. Stop looking for the one strike of gold.
Does creativity have any copyrights? Yes it does. A sentence in English in a novel is not a statement in Java written in basements of Chennai and Bangalore! It’s not 1<2 logic going around here with could be copied using the famous Ctrl+c and used using the infamous Ctrl+v all he time!
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