Nora Roberts files ‘multi-plagiarism’ lawsuit alleging writer copied more than 40 authors
After weeks of anger, bestselling novelist is suing Brazilian author Cristiane Serruya for ‘rare and scandalous’ level of plagiarism
After weeks of scandal and speculation, the bestselling author Nora Roberts has formally filed a lawsuit against Brazilian romance writer Cristiane Serruya, who stands accused of committing “multi-plagiarism” on a “rare and scandalous” level.
Roberts, who has written more than 200 novels and sold more than 500m books around the world, filed her lawsuit to a court in Rio de Janeiro. The suit claims that Serruya’s books are “a literary patchwork, piecing together phrases whose form portrays emotions practically identical to those expressed in the plaintiff’s books.” She is asking for damages at 3,000 times the value of the highest sale price for any Serruya work mentioned in the lawsuit, according to the Associated Press newswire; six of Serruya’s books are cited as including plagiarised passages, including Royal Love and From the Baroness’s Diary, with the court papers including examples of similarities with Roberts’ titles Unfinished Business, River Ends and Whiskey Beach. It also alleges plagiarism of “dozens” of other authors.