Author Emma Cline is being sued over plagiarism, by a former boyfriend who alleges she plagiarized parts of her novel ‘The Girls.’ Cline is suing back.
The lawsuits come a week after Manson, who inspired numerous works of fiction and nonfiction including ‘The Girls’, died in prison at age 83.
Exes on a legal battle
Chaz Reetz-Laiolo sued former girlfriend, author Emma Cline, for allegedly plagiarizing her bestselling novel ‘The Girls’ from him by using spyware to access his email and other accounts. Reetz-Laiolo, who’s also a writer, also names Penguin Random House in the lawsuit, saying the publishing house knowingly released plagiarized content when it published the novel.
‘The Girls’ was released in June 2016 and tells the story of a 14-year-old girl who gets involved in a dark 1960s cult that closely resembles the Charles Manson family.
The book got glowing reviews and was on The New York Times’ best-seller list for 12 weeks.
As for Cline, she presented a countersuit claiming the allegations are the “ludicrous” acts of a man who is jealous of his ex’s success. She also said they come as part of a two-year assault on her mental health and literary reputation
Cline states the alleged plagiarism amounts to a few stray phrases and passages that stemmed from the couple’s shared lives, conversations and reading of each other’s work. Which happened when they were both aspiring writers who were romantically involved starting in 2009.
In a statement Wednesday, Random House said that it “stands by” Cline and her book.
“We firmly believe that there is no basis to the plagiarism claims,” the publisher said.
Charles Manson dead
The notorious leader of the Manson Family cult that murdered actress Sharon Tate and six others in 1969, died in a Bakersfield, Calif., hospital in November 19. He was 83.
After being hospitalized in January, Manson returned to the hospital in mid-November. He was transferred out of Corcoran State Prison, where he had been serving nine life sentences. He had been denied parole 12 times.
The shocking murders brought the carefree hippie era of the late 1960s to a dark end, with Manson and his followers becoming infamous cultural figures.
Though the murders took place nearly 50 years ago, they continued to have a hold over the popular imagination.
Quentin Tarantino agreed with Sony Pictures on Nov. 17 to develop his 1969-based movie project that has the events surrounding Manson as background.
Also, the current season of ‘American Horror Story’ portrayed the Manson family in the “Charles (Manson) in Charge” episode.
Source: The Bookseller