Ordinary researchers usually struggle with the idea of plagiarizing as they refer to source material during research. Some do it intentionally while others fail to meet the citation requirements. The dangers of plagiarism spread beyond poor citation skills to become matters of legal concern. When the most famous of people present plagiarized work in public, it is bound to be spotted and shared all across the internet. We present our very own list of some of the most famous plagiarism cases:
1. J. K. Rowling
No list of plagiarized works lacks at least one famous plagiarism case against a best-selling author. Rowling is one of my best authors who wrote a series of books that saw Harry Potter, the main character of a series of books, and I grow together to young adulthood. In the forth book in the series- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rowling is accused of having used ideas from another book to draw up her forth piece.
Adrian Jacobs, the author of Willy the Wizard, sued Rowling for stealing his plotline and other elements of the story such as the Triwizard Championship and the troll in the girls’ bathroom. The case was however, dismissed in court.
2. Dan Brown
I take it you have all heard, even in passing, about the DaVinci Code. The author, Dan Brown, has been taken to court seven times due to plagiarism cases. None of the cases went anywhere but he had been accused of using theories by Mikhail Aniki in the DaVinci Code with citing him; The Holy Grail is said to have copied the structure of Holy Grail by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh.
Appearing on the list of famous plagiarism cases, however, did not affect him and the Angels and Demons author still has a fire to him.
3. Martin Luther King
In 1955, King did a dissertation and qualified to get a degree. The problem began when his wife donated his papers to Stanford University King Papers Project. These people found documents, which contained evidence that part of King’s dissertation had been obtained from other sources. The people chosen to investigate the truth confirmed the allegations but went ahead to say they believed it was unintentional.
There have also been allegations that parts of the speech made by King “I have a Dream” were stolen from a pastor, Archibald Carey. This case was dismissed since the similarities were limited and owing to the fact that both speeches were based on “America”, a hymn by Samuel Francis Smith.
4. Jane Goodall
Next on our list of famous plagiarism cases is among the most famous scientists, specifically known for her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania. In 2013, Goodall sent review copies of her new book “Seeds of Hope” to various newspapers. Washington Post’s Steven Levingston said the book contained several plagiarism cases. After another paper even came up with more plagiarized content from the book, Goodall apologized and postponed the book’s release.
5. Nicki Minaj
Nicki is one of the musicians who has had a famous plagiarism case against her. She was under the spot for a different reason as she allegedly copied parts of a hit song she produced in the song “starships”. The work is said to have been copied from a song written by Clive Tanaka.
One of the weirdest famous plagiarism cases; A person called Terrence Davidson also took Nicki Minaj to court claiming that she had stolen his wig designs.
Repercussions of Most Famous Plagiarism Cases
As we have seen from these famous plagiarism cases, a small issue of improper citation could lead one to legal trouble or even to a point that they destroy someone’s career.
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