Grammar, plagiarism issues plague Draper & Kramer written communications

26-Sep-08 – A collection of news items – printed on MTCA / Draper & Kramer letterhead and displayed on the MTCA bulletin board – appears to significantly plagiarize Alderman Reilly’s September 19 newsletter. Not only is the alderman not credited, but where his name appears in the original version, Draper & Kramer has removed it in their version, along with a reference to a competing real estate company.

With the title “NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS SEPT 22nd, 2008,” the page includes four items. A paragraph about the redevelopment of the Esquire Theater property is identical to Reilly’s version, except that Draper & Kramer corrects a typo.

In Reilly’s version, a paragraph that begins with, “Last week, Alderman Reilly participated in the long-awaited groundbreaking of ‘MetraMarket’” has been shortened in the Draper & Kramer version to, “Last week, was the long-awaited groundbreaking of ‘MetraMarket’.”

(Left) Draper & Kramer “neighborhood news.” (Click on image to view larger photo.) (Below) Link to original version.  Alderman Reilly Reports

A reference to U.S. Equities Realty is removed in the Draper & Kramer version. The rest of the paragraph appears to be cut-and-pasted from the Reilly newsletter, which was sent on September 19 by email. An extraneous space in a hyphenated word in Reilly’s text is preserved in Draper & Kramer’s.

A paragraph about the CTA Brown Line is identical to Reilly’s version, although the writer does clarify that the word “Chicago” refers to Chicago Avenue. And the writer has added an editorial comment about rail stations being wheelchair accessible – “This is a milestone. We hope the Olympic’s [sic] Committee is watching!.” Unfortunately, the comment contains two punctuation mistakes.

The last item, about Chicago Environmental Resource Days, is entirely cut and pasted from Reilly’s text, without attribution, with Reilly typos left intact.

Copyright issues would not apply because the text comes from a public official and arguably was used for educational purposes. Both Draper & Kramer and Alderman Reilly’s office were contacted for comment but there was no response.

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