Lobbying » Attorney general acknowledges using the words of others but says the criticisms are a sneak attack by pro-piracy forces.

By Matt Canham

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Washington • Internet giants are clashing with Hollywood celebrities and major retailers over legislation that would make it easier to shut down sites for online piracy. And Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has picked sides.

He argued in a Salt Lake Tribune opinion piece last weekend http://bit.ly/ynecnK that a tough enforcement bill is needed to protect consumers, entertainers and businesses.

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"It will take a strong, sustained effort to stop Internet thieves and profiteers," Shurtleff wrote.

Actually, Shurtleff didn’t write that. And other lines in his op-ed didn’t come from him either. They were plagiarized from a news release and columns written by supporters of the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA.

Opponents of the legislation first identified the lifted passages and noted the irony of a law enforcement officer fighting the misappropriation of others’ work by misappropriating others’ words.

But Shurtleff denies he plagiarized anyone, arguing it is common practice for public officials to get help writing speeches and opinion pieces, though he doesn’t deny that some sentences were lifted word for word from other sources.

"Could some quotes be put around those certain issues? Yeah. Is it plagiarism? No," Shurtleff said. "People are reciting words all the time."

And he said the accusations of plagiarism are a "disingenuous" attempt to undercut his political point by "people interested in piracy."

The attorney general said he was approached by a SOPA supporter who asked him to write an editorial and later offered some text as a starting point. Shurtleff then topped that material with his experiences in Utah.

He said he didn’t know that some of the passages were lifted directly from a Motion Picture Association of America news release from 2010 http://bit.ly/zBPRKW or an online column written by Mike McCurry, http://bit.ly/dVaqFC a former White House press secretary who now works with Arts+Labs, a group supporting the legislation.

TorrentFreak, http://bit.ly/xFaXtn the blog that first posted the plagiarism allegations on Tuesday, and Max Kielt, an Ontario-based graphic designer who brought it to the attention of The Tribune, accuse Shurtleff of letting the Motion Picture Association write parts of his column.

But Shurtleff refused to say who provided him with the text, calling it "irrelevant."

This is not the first time Shurtleff has received attention for relying on others’ work and calling it his own. In 2010, he appeared before a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington to testify in support of legislation that would cede control of liquor sales to states.

Part of his testimony was written by Paul Pisano of the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

The MPAA news release that Shurtleff’s op-ed plagiarizes is attributed to Bob Pisano.

Shurtleff says he knows Paul Pisano well, but was unfamiliar with Bob. It is unclear at this time if the two men are related.

The Tribune editorial page added an editor’s note Friday to the opinion piece online, noting that the authorship of some of the content had been called into question.