Does a "corrected" edition of a book erase plagiarism and source fabrication?

[Zigner]

Yes, but I would need some basic legal information about this issue first to decide if my case is sufficiently strong to try to hire an attorney, or I would merely waste my money on consultation fees and possibly on a lawsuit with little or no chance to win the case. Could you please point out either some general legal guideline, or a precedent case?

Frankly, the facts matter in each case. If you choose not to consult with an attorney, then you're really going in to this blindfolded.

 

[quincy]

Yes, but I would need some basic legal information about this issue first to decide if my case is sufficiently strong to try to hire an attorney, or I would merely waste my money on consultation fees and possibly on a lawsuit with little or no chance to win the case. Could you please point out either some general legal guideline, or a precedent case?

I am afraid that you need more than basic legal information, Ivan. It is hard to provide you with a crash course in copyright law.

What you really need is a personal review of your work, and a comparison of your work with the work that you believe infringes on it. This personal review should be done by an IP professional in your area. It is only with this personal review that you can determine if the other author has actually plagiarized your work and, if so, if this plagiarism can support an infringement lawsuit.

If your book is not or was not federally registered at the time the new work was published, you would not be eligible for statutory damages ($750-$150,000/infringed work). You would need to prove actual damages (profits by the other author/losses by you).

If you do decide to sue, and your book is not yet registered, you must first register your copyright with the US Copyright Office (http://www.copyright.gov).

Again, I recommend you seek out personal assistance.

 

[LdiJ]

Yes, but I would need some basic legal information about this issue first to decide if my case is sufficiently strong to try to hire an attorney, or I would merely waste my money on consultation fees and possibly on a lawsuit with little or no chance to win the case. Could you please point out either some general legal guideline, or a precedent case?

I am sorry, but you are really asking for more than is appropriate to ask from volunteers who do not get paid for their time.

What is more, no one could possibly tell you if your case is strong or not without seeing the actual details of your case.

 

[quincy]

I am sorry, but you are really asking for more than is appropriate to ask from volunteers who do not get paid for their time.

What is more, no one could possibly tell you if your case is strong or not without seeing the actual details of your case.

Asking unpaid volunteers to do an extraordinary amount of work is not necessarily inappropriate.

Expecting these unpaid volunteers to actually do the extraordinary amount of work WOULD be inappropriate.

Here for Ivan's reading enjoyment, though, is a US Supreme Court opinion that discusses some of the issues that concern him, although the facts of the case are different. If Ivan wants to wade through it to pick out what is relevant to his situation, he is welcome to do so.

Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises, 471 US 539, US Sup Ct, 1985: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12801604581154452950&q=how+to+prove+copyright+infringement+in+book&hl=en&as_sdt=80000006

 

[Ivan Nguyen]

Asking unpaid volunteers to do an extraordinary amount of work is not necessarily inappropriate.

Expecting these unpaid volunteers to actually do the extraordinary amount of work WOULD be inappropriate.

Here for Ivan's reading enjoyment, though, is a US Supreme Court opinion that discusses some of the issues that concern him, although the facts of the case are different. If Ivan wants to wade through it to pick out what is relevant to his situation, he is welcome to do so.

Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enterprises, 471 US 539, US Sup Ct, 1985: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12801604581154452950&q=how+to+prove+copyright+infringement+in+book&hl=en&as_sdt=80000006

Many thanks! I will certainly read it with great attention.

As for the extraordinary amount of work to be done: on my part, I had to make an overseas trip (crossing the Atlantic, to be precise) to check the actual archival documents that the author had falsely claimed to have used. I also had to obtain additional documents from other libraries and archives in two other countries. All at my own expense. If Zig feels that doing an internet search is an extraordinary amount of work compared to these tasks, so be it.

 

[Ivan Nguyen]

Many thanks! I will certainly read it with great attention.

As for the extraordinary amount of work to be done: on my part, I had to make an overseas trip (crossing the Atlantic, to be precise) to check the actual archival documents that the author had falsely claimed to have used. I also had to obtain additional documents from other libraries and archives in two other countries. All at my own expense. If Zig feels that doing an internet search is an extraordinary amount of work compared to these tasks, so be it.

Sorry, I meant LdiJ.

 

[quincy]

Many thanks! I will certainly read it with great attention.

As for the extraordinary amount of work to be done: on my part, I had to make an overseas trip (crossing the Atlantic, to be precise) to check the actual archival documents that the author had falsely claimed to have used. I also had to obtain additional documents from other libraries and archives in two other countries. All at my own expense. If Zig feels that doing an internet search is an extraordinary amount of work compared to these tasks, so be it.

I think you might be confusing posts and forum members a bit but that is of no consequence. You have heard from many of us and we all agree that you will require the personal services of an IP attorney in your area if you are considering a lawsuit.

To emphasis the difficulty that we on the forum have in assessing whether a work is infringing or not, the following is from the US Supreme Court opinion in Harper & Row: "It follows that infringement of copyright must be based on a taking of literary form, as opposed to the ideas or information contained in a copyrighted work. Deciding whether an infringing appropriation of form has occurred is difficult for at least two reasons. First, the distinction between literary form and information and ideas is often elusive in practice. Second, infringement must be based on a substantial appropriation of literary form. This determination is equally challenging. Not surprisingly, the test for infringement has defied precise formulation. In general, though, the inquiry proceeds along two axes: how closely has the second author tracked the first author's particular language and structure of presentation; and how much of the first author's language and structure has the second author appropriated."

Copyright law sounds simple enough but there is generally nothing simple about determining whether one work infringes on the rights of another.

Good luck.

 

[Ivan Nguyen]

I think you might be confusing posts and forum members a bit but that is of no consequence. You have heard from many of us and we all agree that you will require the personal services of an IP attorney in your area if you are considering a lawsuit.

To emphasis the difficulty that we on the forum have in assessing whether a work is infringing or not, the following is from the US Supreme Court opinion in Harper & Row: "It follows that infringement of copyright must be based on a taking of literary form, as opposed to the ideas or information contained in a copyrighted work. Deciding whether an infringing appropriation of form has occurred is difficult for at least two reasons. First, the distinction between literary form and information and ideas is often elusive in practice. Second, infringement must be based on a substantial appropriation of literary form. This determination is equally challenging. Not surprisingly, the test for infringement has defied precise formulation. In general, though, the inquiry proceeds along two axes: how closely has the second author tracked the first author's particular language and structure of presentation; and how much of the first author's language and structure has the second author appropriated."

Copyright law sounds simple enough but there is generally nothing simple about determining whether one work infringes on the rights of another.

Good luck.

I can show the cases, which I described in detail (with parallel texts and with the identification of the archival sources) and which can be publicly accessed. If you have a little time to have a look, and if I could send you the link in private mail, you may form a preliminary opinion, but of course I don't want to ask too much.

 

[quincy]

I can show the cases, which I described in detail (with parallel texts and with the identification of the archival sources) and which can be publicly accessed. If you have a little time to have a look, and if I could send you the link in private mail, you may form a preliminary opinion, but of course I don't want to ask too much.

We cannot offer personal services on this forum. Sorry. You need to seek out legal assistance in your area for a thorough review of your book and its comparison to the allegedly-infringing publication.

Good luck.

 

[Ivan Nguyen]

We cannot offer personal services on this forum. Sorry. You need to seek out legal assistance in your area for a thorough review of your book and its comparison to the allegedly-infringing publication.

Good luck.

All right. Thanks for the information and advice that you and your colleagues provided. The infringement is quite evident, because the archival sources cited by the author simply do not exist, but I understand that only an actual lawsuit would make any effect on the publisher. If I understood correctly, if the author publishes a corrected edition from which the plagiarized cases are omitted, he can even win the lawsuit if the new edition comes out before the court's decision.

 

[quincy]

All right. Thanks for the information and advice that you and your colleagues provided. The infringement is quite evident, because the archival sources cited by the author simply do not exist, but I understand that only an actual lawsuit would make any effect on the publisher. If I understood correctly, if the author publishes a corrected edition from which the plagiarized cases are omitted, he can even win the lawsuit if the new edition comes out before the court's decision.

No, your understanding is not quite correct. If the author edits his previous edition to remove infringing material and fabricated sources, the author can republish his book without a problem. This is assuming the new edition does not infringe.

If there is a question on the new book's content, a court can issue a temporary injunction, delaying publication and/or distribution of the new book until the case is decided.

With the first book, if it did infringe on your copyrights, the author's corrections of future editions does not erase the harm already caused. The editing of his previous book will only prevent future harm.

If the author's original book publication has cut into your own book's profits and/or if the author profited from the use of your copyrighted material in his book, or if you are eligible for statutory damages, you potentially could sue the author.

But to get to the point where you consider a lawsuit, you will want to determine if what the other author used of your work is actually infringing. It might not be. Or it could be considered a fair use of your copyrighted material. The case I cited goes into what a court looks at when deciding fair use as a defense to infringement.

No lawsuit is going to be a guaranteed win for anyone. All that is guaranteed with a lawsuit is that a lot of time will be spent, a lot of effort will be spent and a lot of money will be spent.

Good luck, Ivan.