Thou Shall Not Plagarize

While the web brings writers exposure, this exposure sometimes comes at a cost. Consider what happened to an essay written by one Candy Chand that was published some 10 years ago in a spiritual magazine called Clarity.

The endearing story related to her son's Christmas play in which each child held up a letter to spell out Christmas Love. Apparently the child who held the "M" held it upside down so the message read Christ Was Love.

Needless to say the story was a hit and has been circulating on the web ever since. In addition, it was published in Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul with Ms. Chand identified as the author.

Along comes one Neale Donald Walsch, author of the series, Conversations with God, who posts a story about his son's play on a spiritual website. You can guess where this is heading and that is exactly what transpired. Mr. Walsh's son, so it seems, was in the same play with the same upside down "M".

A savvy editor at the website spotted the similarities in stories and contacted Ms. Chaud. She also took down Mr. Walsch's post. By the next day, Mr. Walsch posted an apology on the web site and attributed the story to the rightful author.

Apparently, Mr. Walsch truly believed the story was his. Turns out he had told it many times and included it in numerous speeches. "I'm chagrined and astonished that my mind could play such a trick on me," he told the New York Times.

As for Ms. Chaud, well she's not buying it. "Has the man who writes best-selling books about his 'Conversations with God' also heard God's commandments? 'Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not lie, and thous shalt not covet another author's property,'" she said.