British Tabloid 'Borrows' Story From FOXNews.com

"Could Clinton still come back? Internet buzzes with rumours Biden will be replaced by Hillary as Obama's running mate."

That was the headline in Thursday's Daily Mail, a British tabloid that evidently rips off — very, very liberally — other news sources without informing its readers.

One of those sources includes FOXNews.com, which ran a story a day earlier bearing the headline, "Biden Dropping Out? Rumor Thrives on Internet."

People who read the story Thursday in the Mail — and there were many, thanks to a prominent link on the Web site DrudgeReport.com — may have experienced a powerful sense of deja vu.

While the Mail changed a word here and there, by and large it lifted its entire story from FOXNews.com.

The Mail reported:

John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate has created so much interest in the Republicans that Mr Obama will have to make a radical move to regain momentum, the argument goes.

One day earlier, FOXNews.com reported:

The story line goes as follows: John McCain’s selection of Palin has generated so much interest in the Republican ticket that Obama needs to make a radical move to regain momentum.

The Mail reported:

Fight the Smears is a website the Obama campaign set up to quash just such damaging Internet rumours - but it has not yet touched this one, though that may be out of fear of fuelling the rumour.

One day earlier, FOXNews.com reported:

It sounds like a job for Fight the Smears, the Web site the Obama campaign set up to quash damaging Internet rumors. But Fight the Smears hasn’t touched this one, perhaps out of fear that it would only further a wild rumor.

(OK, OK, we'll admit: the Mail DID change the spelling of "rumor.")

The Mail reported:

Snopes.com, a site devoted to picking apart online rumors and urban legends, has labeled the status of the claim “undetermined.” Several online discussion boards have been loaded up with denials.

One day earlier, FOXNews.com reported:

And then there was this in the Mail:

Biden has caused several problems for the Obama campaign. This week he was forced to issue a clarification after he called one of his own campaign ads “terrible” in an interview with CBS News.

Which sounded a lot like, on FOXNews.com:

Biden has caused a few hiccups for the Obama campaign. On Monday, he had to issue a clarification after he called one of his own campaign ads “terrible” in an interview with CBS News.

Moving along, the stories get even more alike. See for yourself:

Click here to read the story in the Mail.

Click here to read the story that appeared a day earlier on FOXNews.com.

The article on the Mail's Web site ran under the byline “Mail Foreign Service,” which presumably means that whoever "wrote" the Mail story simply "mailed it in."

The Mail did not respond to FOXNews.com's request for an explanation.