WEST CHESTER, Penna. – A Jennifer Lopez fan site has been accused of plagiarism by Postcards from the Pug Bus editor in briefs, Phil Maggitti, who alleges that the fan site “ripped off” his July 4, 2005, Pug Bus entry, “Jennifer Lopez Starts Pet Advice Column,” and reprinted it without permission or attribution the following day. Worse yet, the article was printed as fact rather than satire.
The plagiarized column reported with tongues in both cheeks that Ms. Lopez’ newest animal-related enterprise—an advice column for pets entitled “Jennifer Lopez on All Fours”—would debut in the November 2005 issues of Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy magazines.
The article also carried the following bogus quote by a bogus individual: “We are thrilled to have someone of Jennifer’s stature who can talk to animals on their own level,” said Melinda Basset, articles editor at Bow Tie Press, which publishes Dog Fancy, Cat Fancy, Horsing Around, Fun with Ferrets, and other pet-related titles.
“This piracy on the Internet has got to stop,” said Mr. Maggitti. “I stand with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America, and any other association of Americans dedicated to hunting down and suing the ass off pirates wherever they are—especially the ones who can’t tell the difference between the real and the surreal.
“Not long ago the RIAA coined the word songlifter to describe someone who acquires music illegally over the Internet. Well, I’ve just coined the word wordlifter to describe people who reprint the original words of others without giving them credit.”
Asked why he took so long to accuse the unnamed Jennifer Lopez fan site of “wordlifting,” Mr. Maggitti replied, “Because I just found out about it. Besides, I’m actually considering a reverse class action suit against the Jennifer Lopez site and a Drew Barrymore ‘sister site’ that wordlifted the same piece and ran it the same infamous day.”
When Mr. Maggitti was asked why he hadn’t noticed the alleged plagiarism sooner, he replied indignantly, “You think I’ve actually got time to read those kinds of sites? It’s hard enough to satirize them, let alone read them. I happened to stumble across these two wordlifters because I was looking for something of my own to plagiarize today. It’s Saturday, I was up late watching hoops and Bill Maher last night, and I wasn’t feeling particularly funny this morning, so I thought I’d dust off something I had done a while ago and then go back to sleep.”
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