It’s true that there is hardly such a thing as an original thought.
Humans have evolved to take in information from many sources and come to conclusions that form what they believe is an original idea. Innovation occurs when the ideas of multiple people dovetail.
However, in those instances when someone appropriates someone else’s design or innovation and then slaps their name on it, a theft has occurred.
That is why we have patents to protect people from having their ideas stolen, and in the literary world we have copyrights to protect original writings.
When someone is accused of plagiarism, it should be taken seriously; however, there should never, ever be a rush to judgment.
Recently, the president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, was publicly accused of plagiarism, and her face has been splashed across the news with headlines branding her a thief. Some conservative commentators have even called Gay a “diversity hire” in a further attempt to besmirch her character.
There are news stories where the people who Gay allegedly plagiarized are calling for her to be fired; however, I have yet to see any hard evidence presented. If she did indeed commit intellectual property theft, then the evidence should be right out in the open for all to see.
Ten years ago, I released a book titled, “The Contract On The Government,” under my pseudonym “Tommy Hudson.”
I don’t believe the book contains any truly original thoughts. I quoted George Washington on the dangers of political parties, Dwight Eisenhower on the dangers of a military industrial complex and The Federalist Papers on why Senate seats should be a state appointment rather than be filled by an election at large.
In the book, I admitted that my thoughts were an amalgamation of other people’s thoughts packaged in one book, kind of like how Henry Ford built his vehicle based on the ideas of others and never claimed he invented the automobile or the mechanized assembly line.
Part of the marketing strategy for promoting a book on politics is to send free copies to politicians of like mind in the hopes they will cite the book’s title and author’s name in a stump speech or on television.
The free book strategy is not the hope that the politician will actually read the book themselves, but someone on their staff might, and a speech writer will incorporate the publication along with a citation.
We did that with “The Contract,” and later a friend sent me a video of a prominent politician giving a public address. This person began ticking off the very “political planks” contained in my book. That politician even used the same Titanic tragedy analogy that I used in the book.
I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for the politician to give my book a plug, and it didn’t happen.
While I was a little crestfallen that I didn’t get a shout-out, I never felt the politician plagiarized me. In fact, I was flattered that someone skimmed through the book and thought the ideas made sense.
That particular politician, or someone on their staff, did send me a Christmas card that year, so at least I got a consolation prize.
When I was writing my college honors thesis at Augusta State University, my thesis board warned me sternly about the dangers of plagiarism and the fine line that must be towed to avoid even the appearance of plagiarism.
The centerpiece of the thesis was a fictional Southern gothic horror novel, and I drew heavily from the masters of the horror genre. There were situations and tropes similar to Stephen King, Whitley Strieber, F. Paul Wilson and my favorite, Shirley Jackson.
In “The Haunting of Hill House,” Jackson wrote: “Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”
In my novel “Manse,” I wanted to replicate the dreamlike atmosphere that Jackson so masterfully created, but I was very keen never to plagiarize any of the authors I admired. I did find what I thought was a clever way to tip my hat to Jackson without stealing from her.
In “Manse,” I wrote “The gala was a success, and the ballroom seemed to gleam with a vitality it had not experienced for the better part of a century; yet among the crowd and the sounds of conversation and champagne glasses tinkling, Adam still felt that he walked alone, dreamless yet on the verge of experiencing a nightmare.”
Thoughts are interchangeable, but once something is printed, the sentences themselves that tie those thoughts together are the sole property of the writer.
While I totally disagree with Gay’s stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict, she has the right to her opinion. One major component of liberty is the freedom to be ignorant if one desires to be.
Both sides of the political aisle attempt to use unrelated allegations to cancel perceived adversaries for having disagreeable views and that is tyranny.
If Gay is guilty of plagiarism, she should be fired, but we should not rush to judgment.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
