Crown Publishing edition, 1996
Copyright violations and plagiarism have been a longstanding and serious problem since Osler's Web was published in 1996. Frequently, people with no or very limited understanding of the meaning of copyright infringement have tried to use excerpts from Osler's Web in books, pamphlets, newsletters, and other formats, electronic or published. These people have had to remove any material from Osler's Web due to copyright violation.
I am the sole author and copyright holder of the book Osler's Web: Inside the Labyrinth of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic. It is my intellectual property in perpetuity.
Plaigiarism has been equally a problem. For those who need an explanation of what plagiarism is, here is a link.
If you wish to quote from Osler's Web, you are free to do so but only if you first seek permission from me, author and copyright holder.
There are three levels of quotation I will generally approve:
One liners, as in a book jacket blurb;
a short quote for a blog, no more than a short paragraph;
a short quote for a published work, again, no more than a brief paragraph.
I have almost universally allowed those who make a formal request to quote from the book to do so.
After recieving my permission:
1) The quoted material must appear in quotations
2) the name of the book cited
3) the author's name (Hillary Johnson) cited;
4) the page on which the quote appears cited.
To seek such permission to quote from Osler's Web, please send your request to this website by going to the letters page, which may be found in the headers. For a more indepth discussion of plagiarism and copyright infringement as it relates to Osler's Web, please see the text below:
Copyright violations and plagiarism have been a significant and serious problem with Osler’s Web since it’s publication in 1996. Several books, for instance, have been published that engage in both plagiarism and copyright infringement upon Osler’s Web. It is one of the difficulties that arise when people who are not publishing professionals engage in attempts to produce books but are not trained reporters and are unable to do original reporting or arrive at their own original insights, and so end up pillaging the works of those who are, thus either knowingly or unknowingly committing plagiarism.
It is both unethical and a civil (as opposed to criminal) law violation to use the material in Osler’s Web, either directly, as in drawing from the book verbatim, or to simply lift sections of it, whether verbatim or in a close paraphrase, without first requesting permission from the author and sole copyright holder, and citing the source. Both activities are plagiarism and are a violation of my copyright. For example, one recent incident by the plagiarist Cort Johnson (no relation) is particularly egregious because of the amount of material he plagiarized, an act that constituted multiple infractions in a single document, has the potential for copying, linking, and re-posting, thus amplifying and encouraging acts of plagiarism and copyright infringement against my copyrighted material.
The solutions to this very serious problem begin with alerting any potential plagiarists of Osler’s Web that they are, in addition to committing the unethical act of plagiarism, infringing on a copyright, which I am taking the time to do now. Anyone who is guilty of plagiarism and or copyright infringement as a first step needs to correct the problem immediately by removing the material from the Internet.
Osler's Web is a major historical work. It is now, and since its publication in 1996, always has been available in full to anyone who wants to read it in its complete and unabridged format. I am the sole copyright holder and the book is not in the public domain, however. No doubt for some, the horror of the plight in which many CFS sufferers find themselves, and the relief that the historical facts contained in my book has provided to so many, has justified the informal manner in which my work has been, on ocassion, cannibalized. But there is no possible justification for engaging in unlawful, unethical acts that help no one and gratuitously cause harm.
There is much left to do in the community effort that will be necessary to bring all the facts of this terrible chapter in public health management to a just and humanitarian resolution. Anyone now choosing to report on the lives of those who made themselves stalwarts and heroes in this fight, yet are doing so by any means necessary and in shameful ways, should reconsider the profound human tragedy which is still being played out and stop seeking their own advantage.
I have always given my permission to people who wish to to quote from Osler’s Web, if they first, seek my permission, and second, if they put the material in quotations and cite the name of the book, it’s author, the page on which the quote appears, the publisher and the publisher’s address. All the same applies, of course, to paraphrasing of the language in Osler's Web. To seek permission, please send a letter to this website.
If any further clarity on issues of plagiarism or copyright infringement is required, please see the following Wickepedia entry
on Plagiarism and copyright infringement.
Hillary Johnson
January 17, 2010