Patton Oswalt Plagiarized? Comedian Busts Columbia University Valedictorian Brian Corman - ABC News

(c) 2010 F. Bruce Abel

I have tried to memorize the hilarious quote from Steve Martin that I posted earlier today, to use casually in conversation, but it came off once and didn't more recently. But to have to start out by saying "As Steve Martin wrote..." -- as I think I did on the second try -- takes the bite out of it.

"Constant possession of a vigina" is the funniest part.

Now for the blog re the Columbia valadictorian's plagerism.


Patton Oswalt Plagiarized? Comedian Busts Columbia University Valedictorian Brian Corman - ABC News: "I have never been able to understand why plagiarism ever occurs. If something is brilliant, funny, insightful or illuminating, giving the proper attribution is not going to change that character. I don't understand what the motivation is. The only time I have ever even thought about it is when I remember a funny line or poignant insight, but cannot remember where it came from or who said it. But in those cases, I know all I need to know, namely, that I wasn't the originator, and I simply state as much, or I try to speculate who I think it was who originated the idea. Usually I can narrow it down to a few likely possibilities as sources. Being a good story-teller means being able to share others' wisdom, with proper attribution, without trashing the story. It's hard to imagine anyone who can't do that much if they simply reflect for a few moments."