Plagiarism Problems and How to Minimize Risk

No doubt you’ve heard, by now, about the legal dispute between Dawn Dorland and Sonya Larson, brought to light by a recent New York Times article titled “Who Is the Bad Art Friend?”, written by Robert Kolker and published in October of 2021 in The New York Times Magazine. This case begs the question: how much can we draw from our own life, and the life of others, before it veers into sticky plagiarism and copyright territory?

Another case, this one in London, centres on two cookbooks that have strikingly similar phrasing in describing food traditions, as reported by The Bookseller and The Guardian, among other outlets.

Boni and John recently discussed these two cases, and what it means for authors, on The Empowered Author podcast, which you can listen to right here, or keep reading for the highlights and takeaways.