A rather nasty case of repeated, blatant plagiarism has turned up on the net, exposed by prolific (by my standards!) US writer and fellow 6S denizen Angel Zapata. Full details are here, on his blog.
The perpetrator's name, Richard Ridyard, appears to be stolen as well, being the name of the former editor and director of the South Yorkshire Times, who died in 2003 at the age of 88.
Apart from anything else, it’s a good read, beginning with Angel’s preparedness to be understanding:
“Initially, I was taken aback. Could someone have stolen my work? Is it a case of unconscious plagiarism? Maybe the author really liked my work and wanted to do something similar. I was upset and dumbfounded. I decided more research was required.And it is…
What I found was frightening.”
Not only was this person stealing from his fellow online authors, mostly in the horror genre, but from established writers like Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft.
The accused author's stories are being pulled from online sites with a haste which attests to how seriously publishers are prepared to take this issue. Good on them.
Hey, Ian. Thanks for posting this and for the kind words about my writing.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Angel. I wonder if anyone will come up with a plagiarism-revenge story out of this?
ReplyDeleteSome sites are mighty slow responding, aren't they? Still a few of his "works" out there...