She kissed him deeply and touched his public domain...

Dear Rich: I have a question. I am a romance novelist and occasionally I borrow material from other books for my historical romances. I read yesterday's question discussing cookbooks and I'm still confused about the difference between plagiarism and infringement. I'm so glad you asked. A plagiarist is a person who poses as the originator of words he did not write, ideas he did not conceive, or facts he did not discover. "Plagiarism" is not a legal term; it's an ethical term. You can plagiarize someone without infringing. For example, if a plagiarist only copies public domain materials, he can't be sued for copyright infringement. And you can infringe without plagiarizing. For example, this whole answer is pretty much lifted from chapter 14 of Stephen Fishman's book, The Public Domain. (See ... I've provided attribution; let's hope he doesn't sue-- :-)). Which is worse? A whiff of plagiarism can damage a romance novelist's reputation, while infringement means dealing with lawyers and hefty judgments.