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Meticulous or misappropriation?

By Jeremy

The IPKat thanks his enthusiastic friend Birgit Clark once again for rooting out some curiosities for his delectation. This time, it's news of a nasty and very unromantic spat between two romance writers. According to Publishers Weekly:

"veteran romance novelist Cassie Edwards is revered by her fans for her meticulous research when writing books. From Savage Torment to Savage Sunrise, her books (of which there are more than 100 ...) have detailed descriptions of Native American religion, weaponry, cuisine and other subjects. But this week, the romance review blog Smart Bitches ... called attention to some striking similarities and, in some cases, verbatim passages, between Edwards?s works and a number of nonfiction books about Native American history and customs".

while Ms Edwards' publishers have stood by their woman, it appears that there is quite a bit of circumstantial evidence out there on the internet:

"Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books co-authors Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan found the texts using Google Book Search, and have posted 32 side-by-side comparisons of excerpts from Edwards?s books and nonfiction works including Land of the Spotted Eagle by Luther Standing Bear (Bison Books) and Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari
Sandoz (Bison Books), as well as an article from Defenders magazine, the quarterly publication of Defenders of Wildlife. ..."

Signet, one of Ms Edwards' publishers. has issued a statement that

?anyone may use facts, ideas and theories developed by another author, as well as any material in the public domain. Ms Edwards?s researched historical novels are precisely the kinds of original, creative works that this copyright policy promotes. Although it may be common in academic circles to meticulously footnote every source and provide citations or bibliographies, even though not required by copyright law, such a practice is virtually unheard of for a popular novel aimed at the consumer market.?

Right: the IPKat always needed help with more difficult cases ...

Full post as published by IPKat on January 10, 2008 (boomark / email).