I found this extremely interesting article on Jane Goodall’s book Seeds of Hope. Apparently she “borrowed” several passages in her book from other authors and failed to give them credit for it.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this plagiarism case is the way it was handled by the public, as well as the Post and the New York Times. Apparently, “when the Post and the New York Times reported these findings, both avoided saying that Goodall had plagiarized—which, even by the strictest definition of the word, she did—instead writing that she “borrowed” passages, fully intending, apparently, to return them upon publication.”
The article also mentions the reason as to why Jane Goodall was able to get away with this act of plagiarism with very few repercussions–because she is Jane Goodall. She’s a cute little white-haired lady who no one wants to mess with. Do you think it’s right that Jane Goodall was essentially able to get away with plagiarizing because of this?
This is a case where a person’s status protects them from following all of the rules. Jane Goodall certainly is an important person who has done much to help the world in terms of expanding our understanding. However, this does not mean that she should be allowed to violate copyright protocol without any repercussions. She should most certainly be fined for using these materials without permission.
What does it say about Lafayette that we still had her speak after the plagiarism scandal was exposed? Should our institution have taken a stance and cancelled her speaking engagement?
This instance reminds me of times in which other famous people (like Lindsay Lohan or Martha Stewart) have gotten away with crimes, or at least gotten lesser punishments for crimes, for the sole reason that they are famous. Of course this is not fair, but that seems to be how society works today.
In this case I believe it’s key to look at intention. Did she mean to paguirize? Does she do this more than once? If it’s a one time thing than it probably wasn’t intentional and should be let go because she tries to do the right thing. Also it makes me wonder what the publishers and editors were thinking and why they didn’t raise a red flag.