The Week in Plagiarism: Shepard Fairey & Shakespeare

People are understandably disappointed in artist Shep Fairey for lying in court about which Associated Press image he did or did not borrow in creating his iconic “Hope” poster of future president Obama. Whether copyright infringement or instance of fair use, the important argument will now become secondary to the (seemingly deserved) public skewering of Fairey. Of course, this kind of debate would never come up in the literary world. Why? Because they actually have things like “plagiarism software”!. Initially designed to ferret out cheaters, it’s recently graduated to identifying brand new Shakespeare plays.

The Reign of Edward III, an unattributed play from the 1500s, is now believed to have been a collaboration between the bard and contemporary playwright Thomas Kyd. According to Time:

Sir Brian Vickers, a literature professor at the University of London, came to this conclusion after using plagiarism-detection software—as well as his own expertise—to compare writing patterns between Edward III and Shakespeare’s body of work. Plagiarism software isn’t new; college professors have been using it to catch cheats for more than a decade. It is, however, growing increasingly sophisticated, enabling a scholar like Vickers to investigate the provenance of unattributed works of literature.

Pretty fascinating to think we might have a new Shakespeare offering to read in the near future. And the best part is that no one will sue anyone else. The copyright has long since expired.