Indiana, a Plagiarist's Paradise

Indiana, the state where plagiarizing publishers are pampered.  Consider the case of David B. Boyer, still on the loose selling plagiarized materials through Amazon, through Lulu, etc..  Consider the Consumer Fraud Division that won't shut him down because he's just stealing from writers.  That's you and me.

Writers don't have rights, do they?  A book full of stolen materials is a physical product and to sell it under false label (without the author's permission and under someone else's name) is consumer fraud.  So why isn't the Assistant Attorney General of Indiana closing down the state's most blatant plagiarizing scam publisher- namely David B. Boyer of Vincennes, IN?

Consumer fraud is a crime.  Knowingly publishing plagiarized writing and selling it to consumers is clearly Consumer Fraud.  However, the Assistant Attorney General of Indiana hasn't been treating our complaints as such because we're just writers.

So I'm going to up the game and start writing to the Attorney General of Indiana, and congressmen in Indiana pointing out that this kind of lax enforcement gives their state a bad name.

Right now David B. Boyer is still selling plagiarized writing from a variety writers both known and unknown.  He sells them under his own name and under many aliases.

We writers have to demand that the State Attorney General treat this as fraud.

Look, they want us all to file copyright infringement suits across state lines against nickel and dime con artists like David B. Boyer of Vincennes, IN.  Well, the fact is creeps like Boyer are stealing from writers, producing a falsely labeled product and selling it across state lines via the Internet.  It's a crime.  They're criminals.

But because we're only writers and it's only "intellectual property," we're all supposed to roll over for these spineless thieves.

No way.

I'm going to start this ball rolling again.  I'll take all the help I can get.  You've all been great so far but I'm going to ask for your help again.  We need to band together against this.  

Plagiarism and re-publishing for profit is a crime and I'm going to work to see creeps like David B. Boyer locked up.

He sent me a confession.  I can't wait to find the right law enforcement officer to send it to.

Oh No, There Goes Tokyo Again!

Japanese Writer Terrified of Boyerzilla

*****

To get myself into the mood for really digging into the fact based, hard charging journalist mood of finishing the book "Indiana Sleaze," I went through a few of my earlier articles about the sleazy serial plagiarist David Boyer of Vincennes, Indiana.  I was surprised to find that I'd missed the international ramifications of his plagiarisms.  By the time I was done reading my own work, I was seriously fired up, pulled out my press pass (yes, I have one), shined it til the reflection burned a hole in the wall and got working.  I am finishing the last of the 75 inquiries I've penned to officials in his home town, 74 of which have the same last name.

While I finish the last letter, read the facts below and you'll see why all of Japan is in mortal terror of Boyerzilla.

*****

According to early reports, Japanese fiction writers were so terrified of Boyerzilla that they were forced to conceal Mothra, Rhodan and even the mighty Godzilla in undisclosed theme parks and Putt-Putt golf courses scattered throughout the Land of the Rising Sun. The initial effort did turn out well due to size restrictions (it's hard to hide a giant moth under a windmill). It was not until Minister of Literacy Ichiro Murakami conceived of hiding these three greatest of all Japanese superheroes in an exhibit called "Land of the Giants" that the general reading public was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Hoping for another Boyergate scoop, I Skyped Minister Murakami.

"Hello," I said. "Can you both see and hear me?"

"What are you selling?" replied the Minister. "I already have insurance."

I sensed a certain level of frustration in his voice.

"I'm a reporter," I said, "hot on the trail of breaking news stories that concern David Boyer, the serial plagiarist from Vincennes, Indiana."

"I have no time for reporters. Writers are rioting in the streets. There is looting here. When rumors started that the cow-tongued plagiarist David Boyer had grown to such monstrous proportions he was looking overseas for things to steal, the whole Japanese population went mad!"

"Calm down," I told him. "I don't even think David Boyer knows where Japan is."

"How can I be calm? Mothra is not safe. Rhodan is not safe. Godzilla is not safe. Boyer is writing film scripts so bad his cats use them for litter. Soon he'll start stealing our film scripts and putting his name on them. If he claims he wrote the script for the movie "Godzilla," our whole nation will jump into the sea. Godzilla is Japanese. Mothra and Rhodan are Japanese. We live through a tidal wave and a nuclear meltdown only to have to worry about Boyerzilla stealing our stuff?!"

"Minister," I cautioned, "Boyer can't read Japanese so he's not likely to plagiarize Japanese Godzilla movies."

His image waivered as he shouted and banged his fist on the table.

"He can't write in American, but he plagiarizes Americans. What do you say to that?"

Sure, bring that up.

"He lives in Vincennes, Indiana and he plagiarizes Vincennes writers!"

"I have to admit that sounds bad," I said.

"He claims to be Christian, but he plagiarizes Christian writers!"

I had to turn down the volume on my computer speakers- they were starting to vibrate.

"But Minister Murakami- " I said, but he cut me off before I could complete my sentence.

"No buts!!! He likes monster movies. Our monsters are the best. He plagiarized Dean Koontz, why wouldn't he plagiarize Godzilla?"

"Godzilla didn't write the movie scripts, Minister, He's just a monster-actor. So Boyer wouldn't technically be plagiarizing Godzilla himself."

The icy stare he gave me through my computer screen was so cold I shivered.

"You mean Godzilla is a film writer?"

He nodded.

"Wow," I said. "There's a movie script in this."

I know I shouldn't have said that because it made him so mad he spit on his webcam. It looked like a giant mucous meteorite hurtling at me. Then he clicked off without a word.

Hmmm.... Boyerzilla versus the Giant Mucous Meteorite.

There's a movie script in that.

*****

To preserve my journalistic integrity, I gave myself written permission to reprint the above article.  

She's Too Grossed Out to Read and It's My Fault

The call came late last night.

"Hello?"

Never sleep with your cell phone near your bed when trying to finish a good dream.

"My daughter won't come out of the closet, you creep.  That sleaze David Boyer's still at it and now she's too grossed out to read.  Thinks Boyer plagiarized Doctor Seuss.  What are you going to do about it?"

I sat straight up in bed.  It was happening all over again.  

"Ma'am," I said, "have you filed a report with the Attorney General of Indiana?"

"Fat lot of good that's done so far.  Where's that book you've been working on about serial plagiarists if you're so smart?"


I slid into my jeans, turned on the light and saw they were on backward.  It's important to label your clothes "Front" and "Back" if you're an emergency plagiary responder.  I made a mental note.

"Sorry about the delay.  I was looking for a new title due to recent events.  Plagiarism is so widespread now I thought I'd call it American Sleaze instead of Indiana Sleaze."

"What kind of plagiary reporter are you?"  she asked.  "You take nine months on a new title?  I gave birth to two kids in nine months."

She had me there.  In my defense, I'd finished two novels and was closing in on a third.  Besides I was giving the Assistant Attorney General of Indiana a little maneuvering room.  And I'd been working on the alien/Boyer connection, but the government's denying everything.  That's how I knew I was on to something.

"Well?"  she snapped.  "How many kids too grossed out to read is it going to take for you to finish that book exposing creeps like David Boyer?"

"Ma'am, I'm not the plagiary police."

"You got the rest of us writers stirred up- you better be something."

"I'm a good investigative reporter," I said.  "Maybe I could put those skills to use."

It's true.  I claim full responsibility for covering Bigfoot's march to Vincennes, Indiana to howl at Boyer.

"Then finish that book!  At least you'll expose him."

I took a deep breath.

"I'll do it," I said.  "You're right.  I got everybody stirred up- time to finish the job."

"Put your pants on straight first," she said and hung up.


Before I did that, I got some duct tape and stuck it over the camera lens on my cellphone.

Writer Activists

Activism among writers has a long and proud history.  We're good at fighting for others rights.  Non-fiction writers are most frequently given credit for prodding our social consciences, but fiction writers, too, have a proud history of doing the same in ways that are equally if not more forceful.  Victor Hugo, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Steinbeck and James Baldwin are good examples of this.

But what about our own rights?   How well do we stack up on this front?

A.C. Crispin, Victoria Strauss and Richard C. White of Writer Beware® are personal heroes of mine for their work in keeping us informed about those who would pirate or infringe upon our rights.  The SFWA, MWA and Horror Writers have shone marvelous backbone in the fight, too, as organizations that actively stand up for their members.  The National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981/ AFL-CIO not only has helped me spearhead the effort to get pirating publishers to be investigated and convicted under state Consumer Fraud laws, but they also provide grievance redress. 

I also want to thank all of you out there who have respectfully written to Mr. Tom Irons of the Indiana Attorney General's Office, Consumer Fraud Division to prosecute David Boyer for his theft of so many of our works, putting his own name on them and then selling them for his personal profit.  You are truly friends of every honest writer out there.

But for those of you who haven't written Mr. Irons yet, why not?

If this method of using Consumer Fraud legislation against plagiarizing publishers is again successful in Indiana, then when you need a method to go after a publisher who has plagiarized you, it will be there for you, too.  You will be able to file a complaint against the crooked publishing company in the state where they stole your work.

We've all got to help each other stand up to these plagiarizing publishers.

We're so good at sticking up for the rights of others, now it's time to stand up for our own rights.