Plagiarism Exercise by Brittni Knebel Kalich

Example- Hellen Keller- (YOUR NAME and Person's Name)

2023-11-07 02:59:52 UTC

Hellen Keller was accused of plagiarism after writing a short story titled the frost king. After the story was posted to the gazette newspaper in 1892, a reader noticed it was very similar to a story titled "Birdie and his fairy friends" by Margaret Canby. Canby then went public with the similarities but saying the fault wasn't on Hellen but rather the person who allowed it to be published. The person in question was Anne Sullivan. Anne and Keller both went on to denounce these claims, Keller even stating how upset she was to be called a lair. But it later came out that another teacher at the school possibly read that story to Keller, Canby went on to forgive Keller for this but the school was under pressure still. At the end of all thge questioning and trails Keller never did admit to Anne reading her the story.

Harrison Faircloth - Vanilla Ice Plagiarism Exercise

2025-11-04 23:26:21 UTC

In the 1990s Vanilla Ice was accused of plagiarism after his song "Ice Ice Baby" was released. The lawsuit was filed by Queen and David Bowie regarding the bassline from their own song "Under Pressure." The case was taken to court, with Queen and David Bowie threatening to file a copyright infringement lawsuit. To avoid the lawsuit and a trial, Vanilla Ice agreed to pay an undisclosed amount, and give songwriting credits to Queen and David Bowie. He also had to share the royalties from the song. Later reports say Vanilla Ice bought the publishing rights to "Under Pressure" for 4 four million to avoid paying anymore royalties. Vanilla Ice still stands by his claim, "even though they sound alike, there are completely different instruments involved."

Johnny Cash

2025-11-05 02:52:34 UTC

While Johnny Cash was enlisted in Germany he saw a film titled "Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison". He would then later state "It was a violent movie, And I just wanted to write a song that would tell what I thought it would be like in prison". Unfortunately it wasn't just inspiration from the story in the movie that was featured in this iconic song. In 1953 there was a song released, Crescent City Blues. Written by Jenkins Mahr and performed by his wife Beverly Mahr. With the songs being "similar enough" Cash was forced to come to a monetary settlement to Jenkins through the court. It is stated that "At the time, young John R. Cash wasn't a professional musician with copyright issues on his mind". Implying that if he had been further along in his music career he would have a chance of fighting that accusation.

Serenity Jackosn - Katy Perry Plagiarism Exercise

serenityjackson41 — 2025-11-06 22:40:53 UTC

The issue began in 2014 when a rapper named Marcus Gray known as Flame, sued Katy Perry, claiming that her hit song ‘Dark Horse’ plagiarized his song ‘Joyful Noise.’ In 2019, a jury initially sided with Gray, awarding him $2.8 million dollars in damages. However, this verdict was overturned in 2020 by a judge who ruled that the musical elements in question were actually too simple to warrant any copyright protection. The judge stated that the ostinato shared by both songs consisted of "commonplace musical elements" and lacked the originality needed for copyright claims. In March 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's decision, stating that allowing copyright over such basic musical elements would set a dangerous precedent for creativity in music. The court emphasized that the overlap between the two songs was not substantial enough to constitute copyright infringement. In addition to the ‘Dark Horse’ case, Katy Perry is currently facing a separate lawsuit from singer-songwriter Michele Ronk who claims that Katy Perry's song "Smile" plagiarized her work ‘Upgraded 2.0.’ Michele alleges that there are significant similarities in the lyrics and themes of the two songs, although this case is still ongoing and has not yet reached a conclusion.

Dezirey Contreras - In the Thicke of it - Robin Thicke Plagarism Assigment

2025-11-06 23:36:40 UTC

In 2013 Robin Thicke was accused and found guilty of plagiarism. Thicke's popular song "Blurred Lines," featuring Pharrell Williams, landed the collaborators in a federal court when family members of the late musician, Marvin Gaye, filed a lawsuit with accusations that the pair's song copied the vibe of Gaye's song "Got to Give It Up". Thicke and Williams denied this accusation and filed a counter lawsuit to prove the authenticity of their work. However, in an interview with GQ, Thicke contradicts his denial, claiming that he recalled stating "...we should make a song like that..." in reference to Gaye's song. The court proceedings finally settled in March of 2015 with the verdict in favor of the Gaye Family. Thicke, along with his partner Pharrell, was found guilty by a jury and ordered to pay compensation to the Gaye family as part of the ruling. There was an attempt to appeal in 2016 from the defeated party. The outcome was to uphold the initial ruling with the judge amending the judgement in terms of the settlement amount expected to be paid by the pair to the opposing side.

Audrey Burkhaulter- Drake

2025-11-08 02:21:14 UTC

Daniel Tenser at Music Business Worldwide reports that the 2019 song by Chris Brown and Drake, "No Guidance" got multiple allegations of stealing from other artists tracks. On October 5th, 2021 artist Brandon Cooper filed a copyright infringement suit against drake claiming that he copied many elements of his song "I Love your dress." The Line "You got it girl" was repeated 16 times in coopers song and 11 times in Drakes song. Coopers team is seeking 50% of all royalties from the song and the case is still ongoing.

stegallthomas64 — 2025-11-09 05:43:18 UTC

In 1963 The Beach Boys released their hit song “Surfin’ U.S.A.” which is still well known to this day. Brian Wilson said he wrote this song as a tribute to rock legend Chuck Berry. Berry’s song “Sweet Little Sixteen” came out five years prior, and namedropped several U.S. cities. Brian’s “Surfin’ U.S.A.” replaced the cities names with popular surf spots in California. Berry’s legal team threatened to use legal actions against The Beach Boys. Their manager ended up giving them publishing and Arc royalties. It is believed that The Beach Boys did not realize they were not getting paid for the song “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” until twenty five years later.

Alex Haley - (Gene Isaiah)

2025-11-09 21:50:23 UTC

Alex Haley, who wrote Roots, was sued by author Harold Courlander because parts of Courlander’s book The African appeared in Roots. Haley claimed it wasn’t intentional, but he eventually admitted that some of Courlander’s material made its way into his work and settled the case out of court.

Plagiarism isn’t always deliberate. Whether intentional or not, sometimes it happens when writers get careless with their notes or mix up where their ideas came from. Even with the best intentions, we have to take extra care to give credit where it’s due. Haley’s experience shows how one mistake can impact both a person’s reputation and the credibility of their work.

Citation:
Kirszner, L. G., & Mandell, S. R. (2017). Practical argument: A text and anthology (3rd ed.). Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Aniq Rahim– J.K. Rowling

aniq1786 — 2025-11-10 02:20:21 UTC

J.K. Rowling was rejected by twelve different publishers before her first Harry Potter book was finally accepted. Rowling wrote most of the story while living in Edinburgh as a single mother struggling to make ends meet. She would spend hours writing in cafés while her baby daughter slept beside her. When Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997, it quickly gained attention for its imagination and heart.

Publishers suggested she use the name “J.K.” instead of Joanne Rowling to attract more readers, especially boys. The book’s success grew into a worldwide phenomenon, inspiring movies, merchandise, and millions of fans. Rowling went from living in poverty to becoming one of the most successful authors in history.

Although she faced later criticism and public controversies, Rowling’s story continues to inspire many as an example of hard work, creativity, and perseverance paying off even after constant rejection.

Christiana Kocmoud - Brittany Spears

2025-11-10 03:27:19 UTC

In early 2011, Britney Spears was accused of committing plagiarism in the production of her song release "Hold It Against Me". Allegations claimed that the single resembled that of the Bellamy Brothers' hit "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me", released in 1979. As a means of defense, Spears' songwriters retaliated against the Bellamy Brothers, filing a lawsuit claiming that the accusation was both "defamatory and libellous", and that the whole act was a means of gaining publicity for a fading band. While multiple members of Spears' songwriting team had been accused of copyright infringement in the past, supposed plagiarism was considered a stretch, as neither writer had ever been convicted.

Joe Biden- 1988-2022 Presidential Campaign Scandal

2025-11-10 20:36:52 UTC

In 1988, during Joe Biden's bid to run as the Democratic presidential candidate, his past of plagiarism was discovered 22 years later from when he was in law school. Claims said he used works from a published law article towards his own words within his assignments without recognition or citation, to this Biden admitted he did, during his bid, forcing him to end his campaign as the scandal grew in popularity. Not only was this history brought up during his 1988, but he further plagiarized many speeches putting them towards his own work during the campaign. His plagiarized words came from speeches by Robert Kennedy, Neil Kinnock, and President John F. Kennedy. This accusation was proven correct, when Joe Biden admitted in 2004 that his claims were previously incorrect and the history he provided during his speech was not true as he discussed his family having a coal mining history, which he admitted was not true, leading outsiders to find this "history" he provided was actually an interpretation of Neil Kinnock's family history. Considering words from John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, Biden claimed he did not know that his words were taken from their previous speeches. Finally, in the 2020 presidential campaign, he was found guilty of using words from outside interest group surrounding his ideas towards climate change without any citation specifically from Group XQ institute.

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/trump-campaign-press-release-copy-that-joe-bidens-long-record-plagiarism

Elwood Webber- Beyonce

2025-11-11 00:56:25 UTC

In 2011, Beyonce was accused of using a Belgian choreographer's dance moves in her "Countdown" music video. Anne Keersmaeker believed that Beyonce had taken her ideas when it came down to her choreography and the style for the clothes. Beyonce made the statement, " Clearly, the ballet 'Rosas danst Rosas' was one of many references for my video." Later on Ms. De Keersmaeker wanted everyone to know that the borrowed choreography was not used in the right context. The Belgian dancer did not have any issues with using the dance moves, she just wanted the team to be aware of the consequences. After Keersmaeker found the video amusing the incident was never brought up again, but that still doesn't stop the plagiarism allegations.

https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/beyonce-accused-of-plagiarism-over-video/#:~:text=Beyonc%C3%A9%20has%20been%20accused%20of%20plagiarism%20in,Diana%20Ross%20*%20The%20film%2C%20*Funny%20Face*

Kylee Favors - Melania Trump

2025-11-11 01:09:09 UTC

In 2016, Melania Trump had given a speech at the RNC to support her husband, Donald Trump, who was currently the Republican presidential nominee. Soon after the event, people had begin to notice that many parts of her speech were strikingly similar to a speech that Michelle Obama had given at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Both speeches included nearly identical lines about the importance of hard work, honesty, and keeping promises. For example: Melania Trump: "Your word is your bond, and you do what you say you're going to do." Michelle Obama had said the exact same thing in her speech. The Trump campaign initially denied plagiarism, claiming the similarities were due to common themes and values. However, later, Meredith McIver, a Trump Organization speechwriter, admitted she helped Melania write the speech, and had used Michelle Obama's speech as inspiration, accidentally including some of the same phrases. She took responsibility and offered to resign, but the campaign didn't accept it. The incident sparked widespread media attention, with many pointing out the irony of copying a speech from the wife of the opposing party's candidate. It became ones of the most talked about moments of the 2016 convention.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36832095

Wyatt Speer - Andy Warhol

2025-11-11 01:55:59 UTC

In 1981 a black and white picture of the Artist Prince was taken by Photographer Lynn Goldsmith. In 1984 Andy Warhol saw inspiration and made a silkscreen image of Prince for the cover of The magazine Condé Nast after Vanity Fair contacted the Andy Warhol estate following the passing of Prince in 2016. Goldsmith filed a copyright suit with the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals against the Warhol estate in 2019. The 2nd Circuit Court ruled that Warhol’s silkscreen was protected under fair use. However in 2023 the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned the 2nd Circuit court's ruling and found that the deceased Warhol had been found guilty of copyright on the image of Prince.

James Taylor - Chance Noland

2025-11-11 03:01:23 UTC

James Stacey Taylor, a philosophy professor, wrote an article titled "Reassessing Academic Plagiarism" in the Journal of Academic Ethics (2024). He argues that plagiarism is not mainly wrong because it takes credit from others. Instead, he believes it is bad when it interferes with academic work’s primary goal: building knowledge and understanding.

Taylor introduces two types of plagiarism:

Replication plagiarism: copying from a primary source without attribution.
Bypass plagiarism: quoting or paraphrasing a primary source using a secondary source, but failing to cite that secondary source.

Taylor argues that bypassing plagiarism is worse than replicating plagiarism because it gives a false impression of the research process and weakens academic transparency. He does not excuse plagiarism but sees it as a problem of knowledge and understanding, not just a moral issue.