QUESTION
Do you deal with a plagiarism issue (theft of published research and republishing it in journal) whose responsibility is this?
Asked on Sep 16th, 2014 on Intellectual Property - California
More details to this question:
A guy and two of his colleagues stole at least two of my published papers (almost in the form of "Copy and Paste") which were republished in a journal published by a university and hosted by a well known with an international reputation and a good name. The damage has already been done, as the plagiarized paper has been published in the concerned journal on the Internet, which has caused me a great deal of distress. In this case, am I entitled for financial compensation as a result of the theft of my intellectual property, and the damage due. P.S.: Please note I am residing outside the USA. However, I filled in below "CA, because this field is required. Many thanks in advance for your kind cooperation, looking forward to hearing from you. Kind regards. ---- Hilmi Dr. Hilmi S. Salem
1 ANSWER
Intellectual Property Attorney serving Manchester, NH
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Hayes Soloway P.C.
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There is no action in the US for plagiarism. The nearest useful civil claims are copyright infringement, fraud, and misappropriation, depending on the facts involved in the plagiarism.
It is possible to seek profits obtained by the wrongful act and/or actual damages you suffered and can prove (not easy in these types of situations). Residency/citizenship outside the US should not impact your ability to seek damages, although there may be some countries with whom the US does not have complete legal reciprocity. You may wish to seek representation from counsel in the same state as one of your plagiarists or the HQ of the plagiarizing journal to minimize jurisdictional hassle.
Good luck,
Todd
Answered on Sep 17th, 2014 at 9:05 AM