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

J-GREEN2 12/18/02 10:48 AM
192 HASTINGS LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 54
least as compelling, moreover, is the anecdotal evidence concerning
the commission of plagiarism—whether by historians, 95 students, 96
college professors and administrators, 97 scientists, 98 biographers, 99
novelists, 100 poets, 101 journalists, 102 cookbook authors, 103 screenwriters, 104
work); Fred Schab, Schooling Without Learning: Thirty Years of Cheating in High School,
26 ADOLESCENCE 839, 843 (1991) (in 1989 study of high school students, 76.1 percent
admitted to copying something “word for word, out of a book”). See generally ANN
LATHROP & KATHLEEN FOSS, STUDENT CHEATING AND PLAGIARISM IN THE INTERNET
ERA: A WAKE-UP CALL 37, 44 (2000). See also McCabe, supra note 93, at 40–41
(explaining why plagiarism rates tend to be higher among high school students than
college students).
95. See supra notes 54–65 and accompanying text. It should be noted, however, that
since the inception of its Professional Division about ten years ago, the American
Historical Association has heard only fourteen charges of plagiarism and that the rate of
such charges does not seem to be increasing. Samar Farah, Taking a Page Out of
Another’s Book, CHRISTIAN SCI. MONITOR, Jan. 31, 2002, available at
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0131/ p11s02-idgn.html.
96. Jacques Billeaud, UT Professor: 4 Athletes Punished for Plagiarism, KNOXVILLE
NEWS-SENTINEL, Aug. 9, 2000, at A1 (plagiarism by students at University of Tennessee);
Angela Cortez, DU Accuses Glendale Councilman of Plagiarism, DENVER POST, Apr. 16,
1999, at B3 (alleged plagiarism by University of Denver student); Glenn Guilbeau,
Attorneys Won’t Turn Over Any More Documents in LSU Probe, ADVOC. (Baton Rogue,
LA), May 10, 2002, at 1A (college kinesiology instructor under pressure from university
officials after failing college football players for alleged plagiarism); John Moone, College
Trying to Stop Man Selling Term Papers Out of His Car: Rampant Plagiarism Leads New
Jersey School to Ask Attorney General for Help, MILWAUKEE J. SENTINEL, Feb. 14, 1999,
at 26; Julie J.C.H. Ryan, Student Plagiarism in an Online World, PRISM ONLINE (Dec.
1998), at http://www.asee.org/prism/December/html/student_plagiarism_in_an_onlin.htm
(instructor at George Washington University reported that she was able to confirm that
seventeen percent of her students plagiarized most or all of their papers); Benjamin
Wallace-Wells & David Abel, 63 Face Charges in DC Scandal: Plagiarism Is Alleged on
Dartmouth Campus, BOSTON GLOBE, Mar. 3, 2000, at B1 (sixty-three students in
introductory computer science class at Dartmouth charged with plagiarism on homework
assignment).
97. Julianne Basinger, The Similarities of 2 Presidents’s Papers: Chief of Wesley
College Took Credit for Words That Are Almost Identical to Those of a Peer, CHRON.
HIGHER EDUC., May 19, 2000, at A50; Jim Rasmussen, Hastings Chief Retires, Citing
Plagiarism Flap, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, Feb. 25, 2000, at 1 (plagiarism in speech by
president of Hastings College in Nebraska); Kate Zernike, Plagiarism Charge Splits BU
Academics; Lecture’s Unattributed Words Cause Professor to Quit Administrative Post,
BOSTON GLOBE, Dec. 8, 1999, at B1 (alleged plagiarism by media professor).
98. LAFOLLETTE, supra note 8, passim; Courtney Leatherman, At Texas A&M,
Conflicting Charges of Misconduct Tear a Program Apart, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., Nov.
5, 1999, at A18.
99. Ralph Blumenthal, Copies of Book Destroyed After Plagiarism Allegation, N.Y.
TIMES, Sept. 30, 1999, at 12E (reporting on alleged plagiarism by prolific Scottish
biographer, James Mackay); Teresa Malcolm, Scholar Accuses Priest of Plagiarism,
NAT’L. CATH. REP., Jan. 5, 2001, at 6 (plagiarism in biography of Archbishop Fulton J.
Sheen).
100. Doreen Carvajal, So Whose Words Are They, Anyway? A New Sontag Novel
Creates a Stir by Not Crediting Quotes from Other Books, N.Y. TIMES, May 27, 2000, at