Thursday, October 13, 2011

Anonymous - Does It Matter?

With the movie due to open this month, I've given thought to the anonymity or not of writers--more specifically, the works they create. "A rose by any other name..." Is that true? Or does it matter whether the person listed as the author really wrote the piece?

This smacks of some sort of heresy for me to even think this, but don't the written tomes stand for themselves with their engaging manner or philosophic overtones--creative word usage, and mind-challenging presentations?

Ach! No. It can't be that simple. I'm a writer and a photographer, and it is very disturbing to think that someone else would take credit for my creative idea and the hard work of developing its presentation. But it happens...unfortunately more often than we know...and it's not just the creative spirit of an artist (writer, lyricist, painter, photographer, et. al.) that is being stolen, but the monetary rewards for the original thinker.

Plagarism is a reality, and not restricted to overwrought college students trying for a good grade. It flourishes in the broader scheme of the consumer public. It's a subtle form of identity theft. A nationwide effort is currently underway to curtail the blatant money-making plagiarism of one person, David Boyer. Although reported several times over that last few years, he still grabs up writings of others and republishes them under his name. I lend my support to the effort to get him stopped and hope that you will, too.

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