Fifty Shades of Plagiarism

What is plagiarism?
“Plagiarism, believe it or not, comes from a Latin verb that means, “to kidnap.” If you plagiarize you’re kidnapping and stealing others’ hard work and intellectual property.

Still, writers sometimes purposely steal others’ work, and other times writers unintentionally plagiarize because they get confused, have poor notes, are lazy or intellectually unprepared, run out of time, or simply don’t know how to correctly reference sources.

1. Do not use someone’s words without referencing the source or including the information in quotation marks or a block quote; and

2. Do not use someone’s ideas without referencing the source.

Western cultures value knowledge and information as something that can be owned. It’s called intellectual property. If someone has created some particular ordering of language or an idea, in the least, that person deserves recognition.”

The definition above was taken from:

http://www.wadsworth.com/english_d/special_features/plagiarism/definition.html

Okay, so I compiled my friends notes, my notes, and a bloggers and here we have it:

Listed in no particular order….

Fifty Shades of Plagiarism

1. Fifty Shades of Grey was originally written as a Twilight Fan-Fiction story called Master of the Universe, using then names Bella and Edward. The published copy of FSoG is 89% identical to the fan-fic story, with mainly name changes and very, very light editing, not enough to consider it an entirely different piece of work.

2. Shortly after Edward says, “If you were smart you’d stay away,” Bella is about to be hit by a Van which Edward saves her from / Shortly after Christian tells Anna he’s “not the man for her” and sends her away, Anna is about to be hit by a Cyclist which Christian saves her from.
3. Both male leads are extremely attractive and admit they can’t stay away from the ordinary girl, to which both females respond, “then don't.”
4. After leaving her friends in Portland, Bella finds herself in an alley with a group of men, one of which has dark intentions for her and Edward shows up after stalking her to save her, again. After leaving her friends in Portland, Anna finds herself on the side walk with Jose who (combines this scene with the one where Jacob forces a kiss on Bella and the one where Bella needed to be saved from a man in a dark alley) as he forces his affection on Anna and Christian shows up after stalking her to save her, again.
5. Bella describes Edward as a superhero but Edward says he’s the bad guy / Anna describes Christian as a white knight but Christian says he’s a dark knight.
6. They both force their ladies to eat while they reveal bits about their dark secrets.
7. Both Bella and Anna feel a jolt / shock at the touch of Edward / Christian’s “long pale cool fingers.”
8. Both girls repeatedly suspect if Edward / Christian can read their thoughts.
9. During their long day apart, both Edward and Christian go hiking with their brother Emmett / Elliott.
10. Both Edward and Christian join Bella / Anna when she flies to visit her mother. While both Bella and Anna describe their out of state mother’s as always going from one hobby to the next, both are surprised at how clearly their mother’s are able to pick up on the depth of the relationship their daughters are in. Both mothers are easily charmed by the good looking male lead with a dark side they cannot see.
11. Jacob, with tan skin and bright white smile tells Bella he loves / wants her in his Quileute language as he leans in to kiss Bella. Edward interrupts by calling and breaks Jacob’s chance for a first kiss. Jose, with tan skin and bright white smile tells Anna (something lovey dovey) in his Spanish language as he tries to kiss Anna. Christian interrupts by showing up and breaks Jose’s chance for a first kiss.
12. Both step dads pull a ligament, so Bella / Ana’s mom can’t attend graduation.
13. Bella says, "Holy Crow!" Ana says "Holy Cow!"

14. Bella talks in her sleep. Bella constantly says, "Dont leave me Edward" in her sleep. Edward first learns Bella loves him when she says, "I love you Edward" in her sleep. Anna talks in her sleep. Christian hears Anna ask Christian not to leave her in his sleep. (She probably admits her love for him in her sleep too).

15. both Edward and Christian were adopted and have adopted siblings.
16. both Edward and Christian have a deep, dark, dangerous secret that no one is privy to, except for the heroine and by extension us
17. both Edward and Christian are rich and more sophisticated than the heroine
18. Although I find that their personalities do have differences, both Christian and Edward have stalker tendencies and are domineering
19. Both Edward and Christian have reddish/bronze tinted, messy disheveled hair
20. Both Edward and Christian find Bella / Anna's scent intoxicating. Both Bell and Anna find Edward and Christian's scent just as intoxicating.

21. Both Edward and Christian have a “crooked smile” and often enough, "his smile didn't reach his eyes" or "his smile was all teeth, dazzling me." Word for word phrases were stolen from Meyer’s work.
22. Both Christian and Edward are forced to try and read the expression on Bella’s / Anna’s face since neither can read her thoughts, normally Edward can read everyone’s thoughts and Christian is usually very good at reading people.

23. Both Edward and Christian give the heroine a car as a graduation present but really because they don't believe the beater up they drive is "safe."
24. Both Edward and Christian are piano-players
25. Both Edward and Christian have a loving supportive adoptive family comprised of Carrick/Carlisle (the father), Grace/Esme (the mother), Elliot/Emmet (the brother), Mia/Alice (the sister). The remaining two members of the ensemble, Jasper and Rosalie discussed below.
26. Jasper and Rosalie become Ethan and Kate in FSoG. Rosalie and Kate are both blonde, beautiful and a high contrast to Bella. Kate and Elliot end up together as a couple which is reminiscent of them also being a couple in Twilight (Rose and Emmet).
27. Jasper and Alice are a couple in Twilight, Ethan from FSoG ends up setting his sights on the proto-Alice character in FSoG, Mia. BOOM!, there you go, your whole Twilight Cullen cast/ensemble, reloaded.

28. Both Twilight and FSoG have the couple following the arc of initial attraction, hero attempting to separate himself from heroine by stating he’s not right for her, heroine pursuing relationship, heroine finding out dark secret, heroine still pursuing relationship, couple briefly parts/breaks up and then reunites, couple marries, goes off to exotic/romantic honeymoon, heroine gets preggers prematurely, hero reacts extremely negatively, heroine still has kid. Hero eventually comes around about kid.
29. Both stories are set in Washington state.
30. Jacob/José (Twilight/FSoG) both dislike the hero because they want to be with the heroine. The heroine is not interested in Jacob/José but Jacob/José continues to pursue her until he gives up and realizes that the heroine chose the “bad guy” over them.
31. Anastasia is essentially, Bella (more so than Christian being Edward, where there are more differences). She has pretty much all of Bella’s mannerisms. She talks like Bella, she acts like Bella, she says the same things Bella would. She is highly clumsy and uncoordinated, she is quiet, reserved, not popular, odd one out, like Bella. She bites her bottom lip like Bella. She feels a bit like a fish out of water in the presence of the Greys just like Bella feels in the presence of the Cullens. Both describe themselves as a misfit. At most she is a proto-Bella but essentially the same character at the core.
32. Both Bella and Anna flushes and blushes and forgets to breathe non-stop.
33. Both Bella and Ana have a bit of an eccentric mother that lives somewhere else and has remarried several times.
34. Both Bella and Ana had to keep their “hair brained” / “scatter brained” mother on track, acting like the parent and feel somewhat guilty for leaving that responsibility to new husband when Bella / Anna decided to move in with dad.

35. Both mothers make a quilt for their daughter.
36. Both Bella and Ana have a father that they love, that lives by himself (is a bit of a loner), that has a great relationship with them, even if slightly distanced. The main difference is that Ray (FSoG) is a stepfather to Ana, while Charlie (Twilight) is blood father to Bella.
37. Both Bella's dad Charlie and Anna's dad Ray have a love of fishing.
38. Both stories feature a female stalker that is elusive and hard to capture / locate (Victoria / Leila) who stalks Bella/Ana and wants to hurt/kill her (in both cases the female villian lost her love and now wants to hurt Edward/ Christian by going after their new love). Both stories feature a male enemy that kidnaps someone close to Bella/Ana, makes the ransom phone call insisting that the heroine come to the rescue, alone, without informing police or Edward / Christian. In both scenarios the heroine passes out after falling for the trap, only to wake to have Edward / Christian furious, scolding the heroine for her lack of her own sense of self-preservation.
39. Jasper and Rose pretend to be twins in Twilight. Ethan and Kate (their parallels) are twins in FSoG.

40. The name changes are so minor they’re almost identical. (3 syllable) Isabella prefers to be called (2 syllable) Bella, (3) Anastasia prefers to be called (2)Anna. Emmett becomes Elliott (replace a double mm with a double ll and it's the same 2 syllable name!). Rose (1) / Kate (1). Edward (2) / Christian (2).

41. Emmett and Rose are very embarrassing to be around, they’re so physical in public. Elliot and rose-haired Kate are very embarrassing to be around, they’re so physical in public.

42. Both Edward’s and Christian’s adoptive family thought something was wrong with Edward / Christian because he went so long without a girlfriend and are overjoyed when he finally finds Bella / Anna.

43. Edward goes hiking with Emmett, Christian goes hiking with Elliott.

44. Bella works at Newton’s Olympic Outfitters. Anna works at a Sports  Hardware store Claytons. Both Mike newton and Paul Clayton seek affection from their Bella/ Ana.

45. Both Bella and Ana have never wanted someone “in that way” before Edward / Christian. Both were virgins and have never been in a relationship.

46. Both Bella and Ana cannot believe that this wealthy, “greek god” could be interested in them and struggle to accept any form of monetary showering (Bella wants no gifts, Anna calls her “gifts” on loan).

47. Edward wants to buy Bella’s way into College, Christian wants to buy Anna’s way into the workforce.

48. Edward thirsts for human blood but exercises control over his unhealthy desires. Christian thirsts for dominance, not limited to inflicting pain, but lacks all control. (Polar opposites here, but both struggle with inner daemons, one just handles his better than the other!).

49. Edward wants to preserve Bella’s virtue and has requirements before he’ll do the deed (marriage). Christian views Anna’s virtue as a problem to be rectified before he can ask her to agree to his requirements (paperwork agreeing to be his sex slave). Neither Bella or Anna have any concern over their own virtue and both desperately want to be in bed with Edward / Christian, eventually at any cost (becoming a vampire / becoming a sex slave).

50. Edward drives Bella in a boat to Isle Esme where they finally have sex. Christian flies Anna in a helicopter to his Island unto himself where they finally have sex.

51. Bella and Ana both learned to cook because their mother wasn't much of one and their fathers can hardly make toast.

52. Jacob's dad, in a wheelchair, congrats Bella at her wedding for her marriage to Edward even though he's had hoped one day she'd end up with Jacob. Jose's dad, in a wheelchair, congrats Ana at her birthday for her marriage to Christian and admits he had hoped one day she'd end up with Jose. Bella / Ana both eventually describe their love for Jacob / Jose as that of a brother.

I did not come up with all of these examples, some were discussed via email between myself and a few friends and many were brought to my attention from this blog:

http://jamigold.com/2012/03/when-does-fan-fiction-cross-an-ethical-line/comment-page-2/#comments