We tend to think of plagiarism as being the last refuge for the lazy, the cheaters and the incompetent. We like to think of plagiarists as people whose lack of character exceeds their lack of talent.
However, history has shown us that it is not always the case. While some plagiarist, like Jayson Blair and Jonah Lehrer, have their careers dashed on the rocks of their unethical behavior, still others have plagiarism as merely a footnote as part of a long, great career.
Why this is isn’t always clear. Sometimes it has to do with the era the plagiarism too place in, the specific facts around the case or just the simple fact it wasn’t an important part of their lives.
In short, people exhibit poor judgment, even great ones, and sometimes that mistake is plagiarism. That should not diminish their accomplishments.
On that note, here are five examples of people who have, with some validity, been accused of plagiarism but have not had the careers, names or reputations significantly tainted, usually because the scope of their accompaniments far exceeds the allegations themselves.