Hélène Maurel-Indart :
Professor of Literature at the Université François-Rabelais in Tours (France). Author of three essays about originality and literary plagiarism :

- Du plagiat (Gallimard, Folio Essais, 2011)

- Petite enquête sur le plagiaire sans scrupule (Editions Léo Scheer, 2013) : this is a fun book, modeled on criminal investigation procedures. it is a mine of information not only for the inquisitive writer eager to learn more on the rules of literary ethics but also for the enthusiastic reader with a passion for literature and juicy anecdotes.

– Plagiats, les coulisses de l’écriture (Ed. de la Différence, 2007). Commentary of WESSWeb : An analysis of historical and contemporary cases of plagiarism. In appendix are tables confronting the pairs of texts under consideration. Includes a 4-page bibliography and an index of names and titles.

- Du plagiat (Presses Universitaires de France, 1999).
Author of many articles about intertextuality, rewriting and copyright. It is difficult to define all these notions.

The purpose of my website is to help people to understand exactly what plagiarism means, especially in literature. You can find examples of plagiarism.

In 2009, the University of South Carolina organised a conference about « stealing the fire in French and Francophone Literature and Film : adaptation, appropriation, plagiarism, hoax ». This event was sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures, the Program in Comparative Literature, the European Studies Program and the College of Arts and Sciences. Here is the summary of my communication, which has been published in the French Literature Series (FLS) : « Literary plagiarism », in FLS (French Literature Series),Stealing the Fire, Adaptation, Appropriation, Plagiarism, Hoax in French and Francophone Literature and Film, University of South Carolina, Amsterdam – New York, NY, XXXVI, 2010, pp. 1-15.

 « The notion of literary plagiarism is at the heart of the process of writing, even if the meaning of the term « plagiarism » varies according to the period. First, we must specify the meaning and the context of this notion from ancient times to nowadays, choosing examples from among the most famous writers.

For the contemporary period, it is necessary to highlight the reasons why plagiarism has not disappeared in spite of the copyright law. Economic and cultural elements can explain this phenomenon.

The Paul Celan-Yvan Goll case is a perfect yet tragic illustration of all the crucial questions that literary creation, originality and plagiarism can bring. »

There is a very good book on plagiarism by Marilyn Randall :  (University of Toronto Press, 2001).