JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli author Naomi Ragen, convicted of plagiarism, was ordered by a Jerusalem court to pay nearly $63,000 in damages to author Sarah Shapiro.
The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday ordered Ragen to compensate Shapiro, of Jerusalem, for using parts of Shapiro’s 1990 book “Growing with My Children: A Jewish Mother’s Diary” in her book "Sotah," which appeared in 1992.
The court ruled last December that Ragen, who came to Jerusalem from New York City, was in breach of copyright with "Sotah." In addition to levying damages, as well as court costs and lawyer’s fees, the court ordered Ragen to remove the plagiarized passages in future printings of the book.
Ragen deplored the ruling and was quoted in the Israeli media as saying that while she may have been inspired by Shapiro’s book, it was not tantamount to plagiarism. She has said she will appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court.
In January, Ragen was found not guilty by Israel’s Supreme Court of plagiarizing in her book "The Ghost of Hannah Mendes" from self-published author Michal Tal.
