Plagiarism, Norms, and the Limits of Theft Law: Some ... - English

J-GREEN2 12/18/02 10:48 AM
188 HASTINGS LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 54
money or goods from others by theft or fraud, rather than by earning
an honest living.
As for the psychological effects on the victim of plagiarism, again
we must rely primarily on anecdote. In Words for the Taking, Bowers
describes what it feels like to discover that a plagiarist has published
several of his poems under his own name. “When a poem is stolen,”
Bowers says, “the creative process itself is mocked, and the victim
must defend not only his individual poem but also the very ground
from which that poem arises.” 80 Those who hear the victim’s
complaints “become the plagiarist’s accomplices after the fact,
robbing the victim of his sense of worth. Faced with this further
deprivation, the poet must first declare that his work has been stolen
and then argue that it matters.” 81
F. The Harms Caused by, and Victims of, Plagiarism
Exactly what harms does plagiarism cause, and who are its
victims? The first kind of victim that plagiarism affects is the person
whose words or ideas are copied and who fails to receive credit. For
example, the most obvious victim of David Sumner’s plagiarism was
Neal Bowers, the poet whose work he plagiarized. The harm suffered
by such victims can be significant, as is evidenced by the anguish felt
by Joe Balkoski, the author of a modestly successful World War II
history, who discovered that his work had been plagiarized by
Stephen Ambrose. “I agonized over every word in my book,”
Balkoski says. “It was a labor of love. [Ambrose] obviously had my
book open at his computer and just typed in the words, changing a
pronoun or a comma here and there. What took me 20 years took
him 15 minutes. If that.” 82
Moreover, in the academic context, citation to one’s work can
contribute, directly or indirectly, not only to psychic rewards (the
satisfaction that comes from being esteemed by one’s peers) but also
to monetary rewards, including grants and scholarships, tenure and
promotion, and other forms of career advancement and
compensation. One who is denied the recognition to which he is
entitled suffers a potentially serious harm. Indeed, it may be helpful
80. BOWERS, supra note 1, at 14.
81. Id. at 14–15. For further discussion of the psychology of plagiarism, see
RANDALL, supra note 43, passim.
82. Jonathan Pitts, A Twice Told Tale: Joe Balkoski Heard the Story First-Hand, From
an Eyewitness to History. Stephen Ambrose Used It in One of His Best-Selling Books. For
the Baltimore Historian, More Than Words Were Stolen. So Were Time, Toil, and a
Soldier’s Sacred Trust, BALT. SUN, Mar. 10, 2002, at 7E.