I have been following the plagiarism case that has turned author Rachel Ann Nunes’ life upside down. In a most angering and frustrating set of developments, a third grade schoolteacher, Tiffanie Rushton, stole a book of Rachel’s, copy and pasted it, changed the names and a couple words in each paragraph, added porn, and self-published it. At least one other plagiarism incident of Rushton’s is known wherein she stole the true and painfully written essay of an injured soldier and put it in an erotica book, horrifically upsetting the soldier and his family. She then used the names of several of her own students to create sock puppets to cyberbully Rachel Ann Nunes and others who supported her.
Rachel is fighting this case in the courts, but it is costing her her life savings, which she expects to never recover. She is doing it to stand up for all of us authors who could become victims of such a crime. But here’s what you may not know and WE ALL NEED TO KNOW. Many of us believe that, as long as we own a copyright and it’s registered with the Library of Congress, we’re all set. We could easily win any case of plagiarism against us. While that is true, in most cases, that justice would not come without a very heavy price, monetarily and, as a result, mentally. Rachel explains it succinctly, from her own personal experience, here.
Please learn about her case if you haven’t, and consider donating WHATEVER YOU CAN to this very important cause. Taking a stand for Rachel is taking a stand for all writers.
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