ROTFL, Faldage! BTW, I'm a real estate attorney; have you considered a property tax protest? disclaimer: just kidding! disclaimer inserted to be sure I will not be accused of practicing law in a jurisdiction in which not licensed!

if one has something stolen, I find it hard to see how anybody else can suffer more from that theft
Max, I fully agree that the original author is the overwhelmingly-primary victim of the theft aspect. But plagiarism as I understand it is simultaneous a theft from the source, and a fraud on the reader*. When both parts are considered, the balance would vary from case to case (as tsuwm noted; see his final paragraph).

I sense that the issue is "not of general interest", so Max, let's continue by e-mail.

------------
*simplified definition of "fraud" for legal purposes: intentional misrepresentation of a material fact, with intent to deceive