A few days ago, I stumbled upon an article on the web that caught my eye – “Paul McCartney: The Jew-ish Beatle?” – not only because it’s a topic that interests me, but also because I actually wrote an article that was published in a national weekly newspaper on the very same topic in November 2013 – “Secret History of Paul McCartney, the Jewish Beatle” in the Forward (one of a series of such articles on which I’ve been working for several years now).
As I started reading the article about McCartney, published in June 2014 on the site called JBizTechValley, I was struck by how familiar it seemed. Not only did the vast majority of the article cover pretty much the exact same territory that mine did, offering up the very same information I came up with in my own research, but it presented the information in almost exactly the same order, using very similar language and context that I recalled as my own.
So I went back to my original article and, indeed, much to my surprise, chagrin, and horror, discovered that basically my work had been plagiarized. Entire sentences and paragraphs had been lifted word-for-word, or perhaps were only very slightly changed. Plus my overall organizing strategy for the piece and interpretation of the data – my “spin,” so to speak, the creativity I added to the publicly available facts to come up with a “thesis” as well as an entertaining read – had been appropriated. My intellectual property, as lawyers call it, had been stolen. In sum, I had been robbed.
Or so it seems to me. I sent off an email to the publisher of the site, who took responsibility for the piece, and I asked him if he could explain the obvious similarities between the two articles. Why, for example, were other sources credited, but nowhere in his article was there ever made mention of my piece?
The publisher and writer of the article, Marc Gronich, never denied having read or used my article as a source. He did take issue, however, with my characterization of his use of my work as “plagiarism.” In one email to me, he wrote, “Bearing astonishing similarities does not constitute plagiarism. If it does, then I’m mistaken.” Needless to say, my intellectual property attorney doesn’t agree with this.
I don’t want to sue Marc Gronich. You can learn more about him, as I did, through a simple Google search. He is a man of some considerable accomplishment in the Capitol Region for many years, both in and out of government, in the media, and in the Jewish community, and I respect his efforts.
I do wish, however, that he would come clean, admit to his “mistake,” apologize, and give credit where credit is due.
But he apparently doesn’t think he has done anything wrong, and has yet to credit me for my work, nor link back to the original article in the Forward, as I have requested.
In fact, under the pretense of offering me a “listing” on his site as a Jewish freelancer in the greater upstate New York region, he has threatened to publish my home address – my street address – on his website. When I asked him not to do this, he replied that the information is “in the public domain.”
Herewith, I offer you examples of text from his article from June 2014, followed by text from my article from November 2013:
Gronich:
McCartney is often touted as having a close circle Jewish friends from collaborators, business associates, girlfriends and wives.
Rogovoy:
McCartney’s love affair with all things Jewish for the past half-century — including collaborators, business associates, girlfriends and wives…
Gronich:
McCartney’s latest album, New, is co-produced by Mark Ronson, one of the hottest producers in popular music for the last decade or so, and the scion of a prominent English-Jewish family (the name was originally Aaronson.)
Rogovoy:
[McCartney’s latest album] is co-produced by Mark Ronson, one of the hottest producers in popular music for the last decade or so, and the scion of a prominent English-Jewish family (the name was originally Aaronson).
Gronich:
McCartney’s first wife was the Jewish Linda Eastman, not part of the George Eastman family of Eastman-Kodak fame in Rochester, N.Y. She was born in New York City and grew up in the Scarsdale area of Westchester County. She graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1959. Her father was born Leopold Vail Epstein, the son of Jewish-Russian immigrants, who later changed his name to Lee Eastman.
Rogovoy:
McCartney’s first wife, Linda Eastman [was b]orn in New York City and raised in Scarsdale, N.Y., Linda Eastman was the daughter of Lee Eastman — the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, born Leopold Vail Epstein.
Gronich:
[Lee Eastman] was an entertainment lawyer who represented McCartney after the Beatles’ long-time manager, Brian Epstein, died in 1967 of an accidental drug overdose. McCartney’s choice of his father-in-law as manager was famously opposed by fellow Beatle John Lennon, who favored the former Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein (also Jewish). The dispute over management of the Beatles, which pitted a Jewish lawyer against a Jewish accountant, became a major factor in the ultimate dissolution of the Fab Four. Linda Eastman’s brother, John Eastman, later took over from his father and remained McCartney’s manager and attorney for many years.
Rogovoy:
Lee Eastman, was an entertainment lawyer who represented McCartney after the Beatles’ long-term manager — coincidentally also an Epstein, named Brian (but no relation) — passed away. McCartney’s choice of his father-in-law as manager was famously opposed by fellow Beatle John Lennon, who favored the former Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein. The dispute over management of the Beatles (which pitted a Jewish lawyer against a Jewish accountant) became a major factor in the ultimate dissolution of the Fab Four. Linda Eastman’s brother, John Eastman, later took over from Lee Eastman and remained McCartney’s manager for many years.
Gronich:
[Linda Eastman’s] mother, Louise Sara Lindner, was from a German-Jewish family. The daughter of Max J. Lindner, founder of the Lindner Company clothing store in Cleveland, Ohio, the largest women’s clothing store in Cleveland. Lindner was a member of the most prominent Reform temple in Cleveland and president of its Men’s Club; active in the Jewish Welfare Fund and in the Jewish country club; and a major philanthropic force in Cleveland’s Jewish community.
Rogovoy:
[Linda Eastman’s] maternal grandfather, Max J. Lindner, was founder of the Lindner Company, the largest women’s clothing store in Cleveland, Ohio. Lindner was a member of the most prominent Reform temple in Cleveland and president of its Men’s Club; active in the Jewish Welfare Fund and in the Jewish country club; and a major philanthropic force in Cleveland’s Jewish community.
Gronich:
Stella [McCartney], following in her maternal grandfather’s footsteps, is a fashion designer
Rogovoy:
When … Stella McCartney, became a fashion designer, she followed family footsteps into the rag trade
Gronich:
The McCartneys made beautiful music together during their 29-year marriage. One of their first albums together was “Ram,” the cover of which pictures McCartney grasping two ram’s horns. Linda died on April 17, 1998, at the age of 56, after a three year battle with breast cancer.
Rogovoy:
McCartney married Linda Eastman in 1969, and the two famously stayed together as one of rock music’s most stable, loving couples until Eastman’s death in 1998 due to complications from breast cancer. They made music together: first, on the album “Ram,” the cover of which pictures McCartney grasping two ram’s horns….
Gronich:
The couple [Paul McCartney and current wife Nancy Shevell] reportedly attended Yom Kippur services and a break fast at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in the upmarket neighborhood of St. John’s Wood, near McCartney’s home and close to Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded most of their songs.
Rogovoy:
Over the holiday, the bride and groom attended [Yom Kippur] services at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St. John’s Wood, near McCartney’s home and close to Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded most of their songs.
Concluding his June 2014 article, Gronich writes:
It was John Lennon who once said, “Show business is an extension of the Jewish religion.” But it is McCartney, one of the few English rock stars to have defied an unofficial boycott by performing in Israel, who has actually lived it.
Back in November 2013, I concluded my article thusly:
It was Lennon who once said, “Show business is an extension of the Jewish religion.” But it is McCartney — one of the few English rock stars to have defied an unofficial boycott by performing in Israel — who has actually lived it.
And so, dear reader, I ask you – am I the victim of plagiarism? Theft?
Don’t just let me know – tell Marc Gronich what you think, too, by sending email to him at:
[Note: SInce I originally posted this story, Marc Gronich has made changes to the story he originally posted, deleting several of the more egregious examples of copy-and-paste I outline above. Some, however, still remain, and he has yet to acknowledge, explain, and apologize for having copied my article, and he still has yet to credit its use]
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