Scott Ransopher - Plagiarized Poems - Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum

Today's Woman Writing Community has received a complaint regarding Scott Ransopher.

Submitted: January 18, 2006, 6:15 pm

It was brought to my attention yesterday that a man named Scott Ransopher has a website with hundreds of poems shown with his copyright that were writen by other authors. The poems from Mr. Ransopher's site that I have matched with the original authors were included in "Poetic Voices of America, Summer 1996" published by SparrowGrass Poetry Forum. One of my poems were included in the group I am researching. Mr. Ransopher has numerous submissions to other poetry websites, and if he is true to form, I suspect that the poems are not his, but were authored by people who are being victimized by this guy. I wrote to your site because you had some information that I read about Sparrowgrass, which is now out of business. I do not know yet how the copyright laws read regarding a business that no longer exists, but that is not why I wrote to you. I am Senior and Managing Editor of a new international eZine, ScribeSpirit and I am most interested in keeping internet or ePublishing a respectable and viable resource for unknown or little known authors. Mr. Ransopher's pathological behavior takes away the respectability of ePublications, it frightens authors into not wanting to publish or submit work to online literary venues and it is just plain exploitive to poets who have a difficult time getting published, read and recognized for their unique voices. I have many more details which I have not included here, if you are interested, if your website cares to offer this information to potential authors as a cautionary tale - actually if Todays Woman ran this information, perhaps other copyright violators would think twice before assuming 'no one will ever know' of their duplicious activities online. http://www.geocities.com/antr opolis/poems_1995_1998.html

REASSURING
A FATHER'S HANDS by Mary Koeppel
KOKOPELLI by Mary Foster Rhees
THE PRICE by Jack Markham
THRENODY by Douglas S. Johnson
FIRSTBORN 1950 by Mary McDemott
DEATH by Peter Venable
AN UNDISCOVERED LAND by Norman Veierstahler
"Don't lollygag, scalawag, scurry on home." by Lana Robertson Hays
SEA SHELLS by June Owens
A DIFFERENT DAY by Barbara S. Weppener
KRYSTAL AT TWO by John Deubel
REMEMBRANCE by Hale Hazard
A THRUSH WILL SING by Virginia Westervelt
A SUNDAY FOR SATIRISTS by L. J. Barrett
YOU CAN'T STAPLE SOULS by Rhonda J. Cook
THE QUIET TIME by Barbara Casey
FLIGHT by Charlene Schilling
ECHOING QUEST by Emma Crobaugh
NOVEMBER WIND by Wilhemina
AFTERWORD by Daniel Courtney Neff
ON HEARING SCHUBERT TRIO IN B FLAT
by Heidi Jacob
SWEET PRINCE by Miriam Platten
CHEETAH, SEEN AT WILDLIFE SAFARI, WENTON, OR.
by Cari Alynne Snarr
ADAPTABILITY by Zoja Pavlovskis-Petit
A LEFTHAND POEM by Michael Skowera
LOVESCAPE by Phillip A. Eckerle
ON NANTAHALA; JULY by Julie Y. Manuel
SUCCESS by Greg Younger-Lewis
SENSUOUS by Brittany S. Price
"Lemon tasting baby dreams" by Arielle Moule
A PROMISE FULFILLED by Linda Lee LeBlanc
THE FOREST by Carl Lynn
SHE'S BEEN STOCKPILING HAPPINESS
by Eleanor Stanford
GREEN CHILIES by Jane Pierritz
THE BALLAD OF PASTOR DON by Erik
CAMP FIRE CHIT CHAT by Richard F. Pentelbury
THEIR PEOPLE by Lois Helen Seabolt-Boyle
A SOLDIER'S FORTUNE by Bruce P. Grady
WIND SONG by Joyce kay Smith
NIGHT VISITOR by Stephen Holt
VICTIM OF SOCIETY by Kent D. Madsen
DEATH MOTHER'S LULLABY by Marlene Mish
FOR SALLIE (1876-1925) by Loralie Frances Dearinger Howe
MELISSA'S RESTING PLACE by Steve Joos
GENERATIONS by Kenneth Hobert
DOES ANYBODY KNOW SHE'S HERE by Diana Siburt
"Words can devour the mind and eat away at the heart." by Angela S. Miller
BLAZE OF GLORY by Melanie N. Agrabante
BEFORE THE SUN RISES by Amhuba Agarwal
TIME by Carl Lynn
12TH STREET IN OCTOBER by Joni Torres
A GRANDFATHER LIKE YOU by Ann M. Young
LONELY by R.C. Perez
THE FEEL OF A WRITER by Jon
SELLING OUT by Linda Gobert Dean
RED ALERT by Cory Hill
MASQUERADE by Pauline Gates
NATURE'S CHILD by Luci Lichfield Olsen
BEND OVER THIS WON'T HURT A BIT by Jenni cline
THE SIMPLE MEN by Remnick Steele
TRAINS IN THE BACK YARD by Joseph Posner
CANDLE by Kristi R. South
SHE'S HAVING HER PARTY EARLY TODAY by Dona Kanin
DREAMWALK by Karen Oftelle
CHOSEN RECALL... by B.B. Watkins
GARDEN WORKSHOP by William Henry Jones
A BAD PLACE TO VISIT by Thomas C. Walton
A SINGLE ROSE by Arlene Milton
GRANDMA'S SHAWL by Larry J. Hahn
THE GUIDING VOICE by J. Rickman Story
SISTERS by Esther Lynn Hall
COUNTRY OF DREAMS by Eliza F. Butcher
CHRISTMAS PAST by Susan Ibarra
THE TREES ARE SILENTLY WEEPING...
by Sonia Cagle-Lewis
MARCHING by Karen Russell
WHISPERING ON THE WIND by Geni Figley
THE WHARF by Wilma Mary Mitchell
REFLECTION by Francine M. Morris
THE MUSIC by Sara Scadova
HER PENPALS by Rebecca J. Nitzky
WINTER
ODE TO THE NIGHT
WHY DO THE BIRDS SING
ANASAZI
SUMMER'S END
THE SWA

This is as far as I have gotten, it is a big job; I am contacting as many of these poets as I can find on google. As much as I have included here, there is more. Let me know if you would like more information, or better yet, if this person has used your site for his activities. I am looking to bust him out one way or another. I have contacted and received replies from many of the websites that he has posted on. And I am sharing my files with them. Thank you again for your time, and if I can be of assistance to you with this information, do not hesitate to contact me.

L. Jody Kuchar

Internet Plagiarism is becoming increasingly common and it is a real problem. Those who plagiarize do not respect the creativity of others. I think it's sad that Scott Ransopher felt the need to plagiarize the poems of so many poets. What Scott Ransopher has done is not fair. This is Scott Ransopher's main website. http://www.geocities.com/antropolis/ , he has removed the links to his other pages from the main page. However, these are some of the links

http://www.geocities.com/antr opolis/poems_1995_1998.html
http://www.geocities.com/antropoli s/poems_1999.html
http://www.geocities.com/antropoli s/poems_2000.html
http://www.geocities.com/antropoli s/poems_2001.html
http://www.geocities.com/antropoli s/poems_2002.html
http://www.geocities.com/antropoli s/poems_2003.html
http://www.geocities.com/antropoli s/poems_2004.html
http://www.geocities.com/antropoli s/poems_2005.html

I recommend that all poets, check his website to insure that your poetry isn't on there. If you recognize any of the poems on there, please assist Jody Kuchar in getting the word out. Please pass this warning on to other poetry communities. Scott Ransopher website is through Geocities. If you believe that your work has been plagiarized, you can contact Geocities - Yahoo's Copyright Agent at http://docs.yahoo.com/info/copyrig ht/copyright.html

If Scott Ransopher has plagiarized one of your poems, please contact the Today's Woman staff at http://www.todays-woman.net/feedback.html and let us know.

Just an Update - Friday, January 20, 2006 12:17 AM

Wednesday January 18th todays-woman.net emailed Scott Ransopher and told him that he had 24 hours to remove the plagiarized poems from his website.

In less than 24 hours he replied with an email, stating that he removed 74 of the plagiarized poems from his site.

However, there are still plagiarized poems on Scott’s website. Several complaints have already been filed with yahoo from poets concerning the poems that Scott Ransopher plagiarized.

Below is the reply email that Scott Ransopher sent us.

Received Thursday, January 19, 2006 7:51 PM

Rose. Todayswoman. A Father's Hands, Kokopelli, The Price, Threnody, Firstborn 1950, Death, An Undiscovered Land, "Don't lollygag, scalawag, scurry on home.", Sea Shells, A Different Day, Krystal At Two, Remembrance, A Thrush Will Sing, A Sunday For Satirists, You Can't Staple Souls, The Quiet Time, Flight, Echoing Quest, November Wind, Afterword, On Hearing Schubert Trio In B Flat, Sweet Prince, Cheetah, Seen At Wildlife Safari, Wenton Or., Adaptability, A Lefthand Poem, Lovescape, On Nantahala, July, Success, Sensuous, "Lemon tasting baby dreams", A Promise Fulfilled, The Forest, She's Been Stockpiling Happiness, Green Chilies, The Ballad Of Pastor Don, Camp Fire Chit Chat, Their People, A
Soldier's Fortune, Wind Song, Night Visitor, Victim Of Society, Death Mother's Lullaby, For Sallie (1876-1925), Melissa's Resting Place, Generations, Does Anybody Know She's Here, "Words can devour the mind and eat away at the heart.", Blaze Of Glory, Before The Sun Rises, Time, 12th Street In October, A Grandfather Like You, Lonely, The Feel Of A Writer, Selling Out, Red Alert, Masquerade, Nature's Child, Bend Over This Won't Hurt A Bit, The Simple Men, Trains In The Back Yard, Candle, She's Having Her Party Early Today, Dreamwalk, Chosen Recall..., Garden Workshop, A Bad Place To Visit, A Single Rose, Grandma's Shawl, The Guiding Voice, Sisters, Country Of Dreams, Christmas Past, The Trees Are Silently Weeping..., Marching, Whspering On The Wind, The Wharf, Reflection, The Music and Her Penpals have been successful removed from www.geocities.com/antropolis and will never return there or any other site. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I apologize if it has caused any problems.

Scott