Lawsuits
In 2007, two American-Israeli writers accused Ragen of plagiarizing their work. Michal Tal filed a charge of plagiarism against Ragen′s novel The Ghost of Hannah Mendes, and Sarah Shapiro claimed that Ragen used material from her first book Growing with My Children in her novel Sotah. Ragen denied both accusations. In 2010, Michal Tal died. That year, a third writer, Sudi Rosengarten, claimed that Ragen's book The Sacrifice of Tamar which deals with a black child born to a Haredi family as a result of a long-hidden rape of the grandmother, was based on her autobiographical short story A Marriage Made in Heaven. Ragen has denied this allegation as well.
On 11 December 2011, the Jerusalem District Court in a 92-page opinion by Judge Yosef Shapira partially upheld Shapiro′s plagiarism claim, ruling that Ragen′s “plagiarism was tantamount to a premeditated act”, stating that Ragen knowingly copied from Shapiro's work in her novel Sotah which shows “a resemblance in the subjects and motifs, resemblances in language and terminology, similarity and resemblance in dialogue, at times word for word, and cumulative violations.” Shapiro had asked for NIS 1 million in damages. The court gave the parties a month to negotiate compensation, and indicated it would decide at a later date if copyright infringement had taken place.
On 3 January 2012, Israel's Supreme Court accepted author Naomi Ragen’s appeal in the case brought against her by Michal Tal. The decision, by Chief Justice Dorit Beinish and Justices Gronis and Arbel, stated that “There is not and never was any basis whatsoever for any claim of plagiarism or copyright infringement brought against Naomi Ragen in the Jerusalem District Court.” “Tal’s claims were delusional,” Ragen said, “but the travesties and suffering I endured for five years over this frivolous case were very real. It has been a truly horrifying experience for me and my family. I am immensely pleased that justice has been finally been served and that the truth has come out."
On 27 March 2012, Naomi Ragen and Sarah Shapiro reached a settlement. Ragen was ordered to pay Shapiro 233,000 NIS (over $62,500) for copyright infringement, an unprecedented amount in a plagiarism case in Israel. In June 2012, Ragen appealed the District Court's decision, claiming that it set a precedent that would deny Israeli writers freedom of expression.
According to Ragen, the lawsuits against her are an attempt to silence her criticism of the Haredi community’s treatment of women.
Read more about this topic: Naomi Ragen