So, I finally got around to reading about the whole Cassie Claire plagiarism fiasco.

Now, I've stayed far away from HP online fandom because TEH KARAZEE is strong there, although I have a very nice link to a Harry Potter Genfic Masterlist with some delicious stories that seem to be KARAZEE-free.

( But the Cassie Claire plagiarism fiasco is...words fail. )

Say it with me: Cassie Claire is a plagiarist. Full stop. There's not even a question in my mind that she is guilty as charged. There's not even a question in my mind that several BNFs of her aquaintance are also guilty as charged.

What boggles my mind is that this fact was not just known, but was common knowledge. The surprise is the extent of the plagiarism, not that any of these people, and Cassie Claire in particular, had plagiarized.

Yet, Cassie Claire and her people were at the top of the BNF pyramid for Harry Potter fandom. When Cassie Claire started reaping what she had sown for her plagiarism by getting banned from the Pit of Voles, her friends gave her a new online home to showcase her work. Other BNFs and Cassie Claire fanpoodles defended her plagiarism by either lying about it or changing the definition of plagiarism. People were threatened with libel and slander. People were driven out of fandom by bullying over this.

And finally, the top of the heap of all this: Cassie Claire even got a book deal based on her popularity in fandom.

Words. Fail.

I look at all of this with wide eyes and wonder how the hell did this happen? How did Cassie Claire and company manage to get away with it? How did Cassie Claire and company profit from bahaviors that would've gotten them drubbed out of any other fandom? How did they manage to become BNFs in Harry Potter fandom when I'm pretty sure that any other fandom would've looked on their names like poison?

( Yet, it's not just unique to Harry Potter fandom. What makes it unique is the numbers of people involved. )

What really gets me is that CC has no excuse. None. She claims that she used to be a reporter (like me) and she claims that she knows the definition of plagiarism and that she didn't do it (which means she either doesn't know the definition, or she's lying through her teeth).

Yet another reason why I don't want to admit to having a journalism degree. If the J-schools churning out graduates this stupid, I don't want to carry that kind of taint.

( Fanfiction does not equal plagiarism )

I have to admit that plagiarism in fanfiction is an endless source of fascination for me. From an objective viewpoint, the motivations for it make almost no sense. Money (usually) isn't involved and the plagiarist (usually) doesn't have a good reputation or any reputation at all. I can't suss out what's to be gained by doing it.

The only plagiarist (to give him props) who ever tried to explain himself was Ozymadius. What it boiled down to was that he was having a hard time writing smut, so he "borrowed" from someone else. Eventually, as he became known more and more for his PWP stories, the (self-induced) pressure to produce more of the same led to more and more "borrowing" to the point that it just got away from him.

Yet, it still doesn't quite tell me what he hoped to gain out of it. Or maybe it's because his explanation still doesn't make sense to me.

What makes the Cassie Claire case so interesting, aside from the sheer scope of the theft, is that she did gain tangible things out of her time as a BNF. Her fans chipped in and got her an IPod. When her laptop was stolen, her fans chipped in and bought her a new one. Rumor has it that she was so popular within Harry Potter fandom that it was one of the factors that won her a book contract.

It's only a coincidence that she's using a slight variation of her nom de fanfic for her pro novels. I don't fault her on this part, by the way. If you can "market" the fanfic name, go ahead. But her nom de fanfic name strikes me as a loaded gun aimed right at her future career. Even if I landed a book contract tomorrow (not likely, but just say), I'd think long and hard about using "Lizbeth Marcs" on the cover and would be consulting very extensively with my agent, my publisher, and an entertainment lawyer over the issue.

This even though I can catagorily state that there isn't a wiff of plagiarism anywhere in my general vicinity, from either pro authors or other fanfic writers.

And if you think the plagiarism charges won't dog Cassie Claire into the real world, think again. The comments on the Bad Penny report from people who know about her upcoming novel, not to metnion this description here, has me wondering if this isn't the last we've heard Cassie Claire and plagiarism tied together.