Plagiarise This Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

One of the key plot points in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was allegedly copied from Adrian Jacobs' 1987 "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard: Livid Land" according to his surviving family. Despite some similarities (which the family argued about at length, even going as far as wanting all remaining unsold copies of the book destroyed), a US court ruled in favour of Rowling and her publishers, much to the chagrin of the Jacobs estate, who were footed with a rather substantial legal bill as a result.

Answer: Michelle Obama

Some 9 years previously, Michelle Obama made a moving speech at the Democratic National Convention. Following Melania Trump's address at the RNC, comparisons were quickly drawn by journalists between the two speeches, which both emphasised themes of perseverance and mutual respect. Whether or not there was actual plagiarism involved, the team behind the speech denied any such claims.

Answer: Stairway to Heaven

Some 45 years after the release of "Stairway of Heaven", a formal legal complaint was lodged against Led Zeppelin by the estate of Spirit guitarist Randy California in 2014. Some of the key melodic elements of "Taurus" were said to have been copied in "Stairway to Heaven", after the bands toured together in the late 1960s.

In 2016, the trial was held and Led Zeppelin was found not to have copied "Taurus".

Answer: Hydrox

While not strictly being plagiarism, there was some debate in the early 1900s that some level of copying had occurred as a result of the rapid popularity of the Oreo biscuits/cookies. Although these days, store shelves are rife with various versions of the ubiquitous chocolate-cream confection, the humble Hydrox is actually the original, despite claims to the contrary. Sunshine Biscuits introduced the Hydrox in 1908, with the Oreo following only 4 years later.

Answer: Roots

Alex Haley's "Roots" was alleged by Harold Courlander of plagiarising significant elements of his 1967 novel "The African". Despite initially denying the plagiarism and claiming not to have ever read Courlander's work, the trial proceedings eventually resulted in a ruling that Haley had indeed copied, and he then conceded.

The case was subsequently settled outside of court. Margaret Walker Alexander also launched plagiarism claim against Haley, though this was ultimately thrown out with insufficient evidence of copying between "Roots" and Walker's "Jubilee".

Answer: Pong

Atari's founder, Nolan Bushnell, was compelled to jump into the home video gaming scene after having seen a demonstration of the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. A rudimentary table tennis game was shown running on the Odyssey, consisting of two blocks on opposing sides of the screen, controlled by moving them up and down and bouncing a small "ball" between the two of them. Atari's "Pong", which is almost synonymous these days with the phrase "the first video game", was broadly similar to its inspiration, which led Magnavox to take legal action to protect their patents. Ultimately, Atari settled out of court but it continues to overshadow the achievements of Ralph Baer and Magnavox all those years ago.

Answer: Jane Goodall

The release of "Seeds of Hope" was delayed in 2013 after it was discovered that some portions of the "well-researched book" contained a lack of proper attribution to their original sources. Early editions do not feature the correct attribution, but this was resolved in later editions. Amongst the copied sections were extracts lifted from Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia that can be freely edited by anyone.

Answer: Got to Give It Up

Somewhat controversially (particularly amongst high-profile names in the music industry), a jury ruled in 2015 in favour of the estate of Marvin Gaye, declaring that "Blurred Lines" infringed the copyright of Gaye's "Got to Give It Up". This was not the only instance of criticism that the song attracted - many complained that the lyrics of the song (and the accompanying music video) were misogynistic and objectified women, and some institutions went as far as banning the playing of it in public.

Answer: Rogeting

Named for the noted thesaurus compiler Roget, this form of plagiarism relies on the use of synonyms in order to disguise a piece of copied text. Chris Sadler noted a trend amongst his students at Middlesex University London of seemingly nonsensical writings, where many words had been substituted with synonyms without modifying the grammar appropriately.

In many cases, this is perpetrated by using online software that scans text and changes words at random, enough to fool plagiarism detection algorithms on the surface.

Answer: GB 7714

There are many citation styles and standards across the world, and institutions will usually prefer one style for all submissions. Harvard referencing, Chicago style (from the Chicago Manual of Style) and APA (American Psychological Association) are amongst the most frequently encountered standards in the USA. GB 7714 is not from Great Britain but in fact represents the Guobiao style favoured in China.