Small Talk:
In my teaching career, I personally heard of an incident involving a senior elementary school teacher. Holding a doctorate in education, this individual was frequently invited to speak at professional development workshops. However, she often used others' teaching materials without authorization, presenting them as her own creations.
Coincidentally, during one presentation, the original author happened to be sitting in the audience. Witnessing her own materials not only being used as lecture content but also claimed as the product of the speaker's own dedicated efforts, the author stood up and walked out of the room in protest.
News media have also reported multiple instances where individuals were sued or even indicted for plagiarizing others' works. For example, an English cram school suspected of plagiarism was sued by the copyright owner and ultimately settled the matter by paying damages. In another case, a cram school teacher who allegedly plagiarized well-known American teaching materials faced an international lawsuit filed by the copyright holder, which eventually resulted in a public prosecution.
Although the government has enacted laws to protect creators' intellectual property rights, there remain unscrupulous individuals within the education sector who flagrantly disregard the law. They plagiarize the hard work of others for their own use and even profit heavily from it while completely ignoring the rights of the original authors. This sets a most egregious example for others.
