Summer Devon's Blog - Posts Tagged "wendy-roberts"
Rip Off
(from my other blog. If you're interested, there are links over there)
A while back, someone stole one of my books and claimed it as their own. They took the whole thing and didn't change a word. They simply put their name on my book and published it. I didn't have a lot of trouble proving plagiarism and that other, stolen version was gone within days.
But now someone I know is having a less clear experience. Perhaps the person who took from her made enough changes that my friend won't be able to make the formal charge of plagiarism? For someone to be formally labeled a plagiarist, they have to steal your very words. Not just your ideas.
That particular formal charge going to take some work. Someone else will have to do a line-by-line. I'm not going to make comparisons. I have Roberts's books but I haven't bought the possibly-plagiarizing copy and I'm not likely to. I've seen enough to know I don't want to give her money.
But let's just take a quick look:
Wendy Roberts has a Ghost Dusters series, and her first book came out in 2007. They're mysteries and the main character is crime scene cleaner. She can see and hear ghosts, has an employee who's an ex-cop. Her brother is dead. She helps ghosts by solving their murders.
JB Lynn now has a Spring Cleaning series. Her first book came out last month. They're mysteries and the main character is a crime scene cleaner. She can see and hear ghosts, has a employee who's an ex-cop. Her brother is dead. She helps ghosts by solving their murders.
Okay, there are plenty of differences. Roberts's book is in third person. Lynn's is in first.
But......
Use that free glimpse to take a look at the very first scene of Robert's book (the one published in 2007). It opens with the heroine cleaning up a death scene and the dead guy's ghost is whining at her. She cleans the scene, helps the ghost move along, then goes to a birthday party.
And how about Lynn's book? The one out last month? The book opens with the woman cleaning up death scene. Dead guy's ghost is whining at her. She cleans the scene, doesn't help the ghost, but. . . then she goes to a birthday party.
There's a line in Lynn's book in the first chapter. "at heart, I'm a pretty lazy person.."
Uh...
A while back, someone stole one of my books and claimed it as their own. They took the whole thing and didn't change a word. They simply put their name on my book and published it. I didn't have a lot of trouble proving plagiarism and that other, stolen version was gone within days.
But now someone I know is having a less clear experience. Perhaps the person who took from her made enough changes that my friend won't be able to make the formal charge of plagiarism? For someone to be formally labeled a plagiarist, they have to steal your very words. Not just your ideas.
That particular formal charge going to take some work. Someone else will have to do a line-by-line. I'm not going to make comparisons. I have Roberts's books but I haven't bought the possibly-plagiarizing copy and I'm not likely to. I've seen enough to know I don't want to give her money.
But let's just take a quick look:
Wendy Roberts has a Ghost Dusters series, and her first book came out in 2007. They're mysteries and the main character is crime scene cleaner. She can see and hear ghosts, has an employee who's an ex-cop. Her brother is dead. She helps ghosts by solving their murders.
JB Lynn now has a Spring Cleaning series. Her first book came out last month. They're mysteries and the main character is a crime scene cleaner. She can see and hear ghosts, has a employee who's an ex-cop. Her brother is dead. She helps ghosts by solving their murders.
Okay, there are plenty of differences. Roberts's book is in third person. Lynn's is in first.
But......
Use that free glimpse to take a look at the very first scene of Robert's book (the one published in 2007). It opens with the heroine cleaning up a death scene and the dead guy's ghost is whining at her. She cleans the scene, helps the ghost move along, then goes to a birthday party.
And how about Lynn's book? The one out last month? The book opens with the woman cleaning up death scene. Dead guy's ghost is whining at her. She cleans the scene, doesn't help the ghost, but. . . then she goes to a birthday party.
There's a line in Lynn's book in the first chapter. "at heart, I'm a pretty lazy person.."
Uh...
