Justin Millett

Well, I would like to say about the LOTR triliogy, The Story Of Siegfried plays a large influence into it. The ring that TLOTR was based around, can be seen in SOS, as a ring in which a dragon slept upon, and when one wore this ring, they became a monster. idk coincidence? I THINK NOT

Throughy

This common notion that everything has been written...

What about the notion that even the most creative musicians, artists, and writers were not the true creators of their works. Like Mozart and Michelangelo saying how they would bring into this world what had already existed ? They were with creation.

'The path to enlightenment is lumined with humility' (roughly recalled) right?

So there are many stories that haven't been written. Though that doesn't mean that you are the stories originator, ever.

Wallmaker

I present exhibit A:
The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This book and Campbell's work alone has been the backbone for a ton of modern storytelling... Not saying he isn't just observing classic structures that exist and making sense of them, but how many of us are accrediting Joeseph Campbell when we write our epic journeys?

First off, I think this post is going waay too far with worry and the definition has ambiguity. How closely is CLOSELY resembling another work? That's the real question we should be asking.

For me, I know that, no matter what I do, someone out there could be writing these exact words somewhere. There's a lot of people out there. It might happen. These coincidences are going to happen and it's just best to keep a heads up and look out for it. Often I tell the story (or what I know of it at that point) to a reasonably intelligent friend, and if they say, oh, that's just like Harry Potter, etc. I know I'm too close and my idea isn't original enough.
In my screenwriting class, when we pitch an idea to our prof, he usually scribbles down films like it for us to research on and also to see how we can be different. I consider that a part of my research process. To look at what's out there and see what makes my idea different.

Then, when I'm writing, I don't worry about it, here's why:

There aren't any new orginal stories out there. There just aren't. But my voice, my perspective, my slant on characters, and my juxtoposition and meshing of plot and elements into my story are my own.

Second, I do lots of research which results in a lot of ideation... which again leads to my own slant and my own perspective.

And third, (drumroll please) I accredit anything that influenced me. Right now I'm pitching a break up story in film school which I used a list format like in the poem called "Get over it, Honey" by Belle Warring. And you know what? This is a GOOD thing. I have a professor that believes art and literature should be our inspiration to be good filmmakers. I'm bringing in the poem with my work to give to him.

Now, is it close enough to copyright infringement? Probably not. It's just a format and one used before. (I'm sure Walt Whitman didn't sue everyone who tried out free verse.) If Belle Warring looked at it herself, she couldn't be able to recognize it and the stories are drastically different (hers ends up being about a pregnancy scare, mine is about a girl getting hit on in an STD clinic after her break-up). But still, I acknowledge her poem as a source of inspiration for that part of the piece.

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AmyChristy

I, in a way, agree with Fenryr. I believe that people think in the same way as others. Could it be possible that Paolini, when he wrote Eragon, could have come up with it /without/ actually taking the idea? Many people have the same thoughts about a story, not just one people can think something, when everyone else in the world must think of something different.

Furthermore, I do believe Paolini /could have/ done an unintentional plagiarism, but in a way, it may be intentional...we never know...

Krim

Paolini said when he was eleven, he was reading The Ruby Knight and said to himself 'I could do better', then went to rewriting that, then decided to make his own 'original story'. Just happens that there is a rewrite with exact lines of a scene with David Eddings'. He also took around a dozen unique names from Tolkien, with only a few letters switched on occasion. Seems more likely that it's intentional.

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"A terrible energy and strength began to grow in him. It grabbed his emotions and forged them into a solid bar of anger with one word stamped on it: revenge." - Eragon by Christopher Paolini, an international bestseller

Rabid Euphoria

Plagerism, with the buttloads written in history, is difficult. Common themes prevail through many stories. For me to avoid plagerism I think it's important to take a common theme or motif and put a new twist on it, to make it original.

As a fan of zombie horror I wanted write my own zombie work but as much as I love zombies, dead people walking isn't realistic to me. Alex Garland and Danny Boyle's collaberation '28 Days Later' was a step in a right direction. I wanted to have a mutated strain of rabies that would make people rabid, being essentially the same as zombies, being transferred through bites. I was told 'Cronenberg made a movie entired Rabid' and I was worried my idea was sunk. I made sure, since I hadn't seen it, I read up on the plot and essentially spoiled the movie. I was relieved to realize it was nothing like my work besides the initial prinicple which is still varying.


My next work, 'The Catacombs' has been brewing for sometime when I see a trailer on the internet for a new movie being released called 'The Catacombs' and I was worried again. Thankfully, zero resemblence besides title...that I know of.


Sometimes I think people steal my thoughts.

lightening@warcraft

i have a problem.... i made a poem, which i soon figured out was extremely to a poem written by Robert Frost(Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening).... i had never read it before but accidentally made a closely related poem to it- is it still plagarism?

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Rontae91

four words: no text stands alone.

MSWordUp

"i have a problem.... i made a poem, which i soon figured out was extremely to a poem written by Robert Frost(Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening).... i had never read it before but accidentally made a closely related poem to it- is it still plagarism?"

Yes. If it's close enough that people will think you lifted it it's plagiarism. It doesn't matter what you say - about never having seen the original work.

You don't have to trash it I don't recommend going out and trying publish it.

Also, there's a very good chance that you had seen the poem before, forget that you did, and wrote something similar because it stuck with you.

Sam Winchester

You know Tom Clancy's rainbow six? Well, what if I wanted to make an anti-terrorist team like that with members from all the elite special forces units around the world? Would that be considered plagiarism?

Thanks. Sam.

Xejon

While people can fill a thread with advice like "if you're worried that it might be plagiarized, then it probably is," or the "I'll know it when I see it," line, I see it much more simply. I think that in the real world, the dividing line between plagiarism and non-plagiarism is if your plagiarism is better than the original work. A story that is heavily derivative from a previous work, but with few merits of its own, will be lambasted for plagiarism. A story with many similarities to a previous work, yet one that introduces new twists and unthought-of spices to the brew, and has many merits of its own, will never be called a plagiarism.

This line is what we call the difference between "plagiarism" and "inspiration." If you're good, you can get away with it, and if you're a hack, you're a ripoff.

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Kiwi

ok admittedly i don't have the stamina to read the whole thread but i was just wondering about something, there are many writers who take, say, the story of Snow White or something and rewrite it, their version of events etc.. is that plagiarism?

Non Serviam

Yes, but it isn't unethical plagiarism. The story of Snow White is in the public domain because it's so old.

The same with all the Malory re-writes about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table--the original is so old that anyone's free to use the characters. Likewise with Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes, etc.

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Non Serviam

Most people say you've got to read a lot in order to write a lot.

On the basis of various completely unscientific and informal research based on talking to people I think of as serious writers, I think most tend to write at least two hours a day and read at least an hour and a half--on average.

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dhyre

I think it is interesting that I come across your forum today... I was trying to decide what name I want to write under. So I was pretty much settled on one and decided I should google it to make sure I am the only thing that comes up under that name. Apparently, the name I chose belongs to a short story writer who also has a school named after her... great!

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*** correction: Writing is about individuality, breaking the rules, testing new grounds, listening to ourselves. That's why we do it, to show we are individuals, we are human and because everyone's idea deserves a chance, even if you don't think so.