Carlos Men-Stealia!

It's pretty well known by now, but here are some videos highlighting Mencia ripping other comedians off.

Nate the Great and the Frowny Goth Empire

I have a deep hatred for Hot Topic and the idiotic subculture it caters to. Therefore, by default, I hate Emily the Strange. It's bad enough that there's an entire chain store dedicated to teaching teenager girls and boys (mainly girls) to be self-centered assholes, but it gets even worse when one of their "icons" is a blatant lift from something else. Ever hear of Nate the Great?



I first read about this at the great rip-off spotting site You Thought We Wouldn't Notice. For more information, the author of that post gave another link with the delightful title "Emily the Rip-Off".





If only all those "hip" teenage girls who are into this shit knew that their nonconformist icon came from the pages of a delightful children's detective book. Or hell, it might make it even cooler and "ironic." Fucking Christ, do I hate irony!

What's a Romance Novel Without Some Cheating?

Ah, romance fiction. I've never read any of it, but those who love it take it seriously. And as such, the following information popped up on a search I did about Nora Roberts. Romance writer Cassie Edwards has been accused of stealing passages from various history texts for her historical romance books. According to the fantastically named site, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, there are numerous examples of Edwards stealing shit from other writers:

"The results were…interesting. Kate was able to find large chunks of text from a few sources that seemed to have been inserted into Shadow Bear with little to no modification, mostly from Land of the Spotted Eagle by Luther Standing Bear and, I shit you not, an article about black-footed ferrets from the Defenders of Wildlife."

This detective work came about because certain passages of Edwards' book Shadow Bear seemed jarringly out of place to the reader, mainly because they were written in what seemed like a completely different voice and also, presumably, didn't suck as much as the surrounding text. The above link contains many examples of plagiarism by Edwards, and is worth taking a look at.

A tip of my hat to Scott Douglas for telling me about the following bit of thievery. Apparently famous romance writer Janet Dailey admitted to taking chunks of text from Nora Roberts, as can be seen at this link. Sadly, Daily is still a huge name in the romance field and pumps out a ton of books for her adoring fans. Who know what else she's ripped off that hasn't been caught yet.

The Lines, They Ain't a-Changin'

Here's a decent article from Rolling Stone about some lines that Bob Dylan has stolen in his songs:

Bob Dylan’s Greatest Thefts

I found a blog awhile ago that listed a ton of things that he ripped off for his Love and Theft album. When I find it I'll update this. The most interesting thing about this, though, is the user comments section. Dylan has, by far, one of the most sensitive and idiotic fanbases imaginable. I'm a huge Dylan fan and consider him one of the most important pop musicians of all time, far more important than The Beatles. However, I also recognize that he puts out an insane amount of unlistenable shit. And yes, he DOES steal things. Does this take away from his talent? No. My favorite poet is T.S. Eliot, and he was such a blatant thief that one of his famous quotes is: "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal." The people who take Dylan as seriously as those in that comment section seem like sheltered, pathetic people who have so little going on in their lives that they give Dylan this god-like status, and any insult to the mighty Dylan is an insult to the fan. The fan, then, must viciously fight back to protect the almighty. These fans are just as pathetic as Trekkies, Star Wars nerds, Ringers, etc. Knowing everything about Dylan and holding him up as an idol is not a substitute for a desirable personality.

Cracked's Article That Depressed Me

Even though their humor is very guy-oriented, Cracked pumps out some great shit sometimes. My favorite article of theirs is the following: 5 Great Men Who Built Their Careers on Plagiarism

An interesting note about this article...they pretty much call everyone on this list a worthless piece of shit due to their plagiarizing, except Martin Luther King. I would never try to say that all the work he did for the Civil Rights movement should be somehow disregarded or tarnished due to his plagiarism, but come on now. If you're gonna be edgy, go all the way. Don't pussy out once you hit those MAJOR leaders.

He's an Asshole. No, really!

Here's something I found this past weekend. I've heard about Leary stealing Hicks' material, but I had no idea that he went as far as to steal his persona. I've also never seen Leary's stand up before, but fuck is it obnoxious here. I just wish the audio on the Hicks clips were louder. You'll need some decent speakers to hear most of his stuff. Bill Hicks died of cancer and is not well known outside of fans of stand up comedy. Hence the following joke: "Why is Denis Leary famous and Bill Hicks virtually unknown? Because there's no cure for cancer."

Been Caught Stealing

This blog is my attempt to collect what I think are the most interesting examples of plagiarism and thievery in one handy spot. This will be updated whenever I find something interesting and have the time to post it.

There are many websites that deal with this topic, and I will of course link to them when I get around to it.