Oscar: I have been accused of plagiarizing the work of Ethel Myers in my recent article. But that accusation is unwarranted. Although I admit I used passages from Myers' book without attribution, Myers gave me permission in private correspondence to do so. Millie: Myers cannot give you permission to plagiarize. Plagiarism is wrong, not only because it violates authors' rights to their own words, but also because it misleads readers: it is fundamentally a type of lie. A lie is no less a lie if another person agrees to the deception.
An author is entitled to quote freely without attribution the work of a writer if that writer relinquishes his or her exclusive right to the material would justify Oscar's judgment.