6 Year Old Girl Designs Federal Duck Stamp and Gets Accused of Plagiarism
By Kamp Cook

Posted: May 4, 2013

It isn’t easy to draw with crayons, but a six year old girl out of South Dakota has recently won a contest designing a Federal duck stamp. Her celebration was short, because the win was revoked soon after on an account of plagiarism.

Six-year-old Madison Grimm of Burbank, South Dakota became the YOUNGEST winner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s annual Duck Stamp design contest . . . but did she CHEAT?  (Burbank is in the southeast corner of the state, on the Nebraska border.)

The government thinks so.  The Fish and Wildlife Service STRIPPED Madison of her title last week . . . for plagiarism.

Madison admitted that she TRACED the ducks in her winning stamp design . . . from a photo of ducks taken by her dad.  The letter disqualifying her said, quote, “There were questions about the ability of a 6-year-old to create such a polished and professional piece of art.”

Madison and her father Adam are fighting the decision.  Adam says that the rules don’t prohibit tracing, as long as you don’t trace a copyrighted image.  And since Adam’s photo wasn’t published anywhere, it’s fair game.

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