Plagiarism?

Ugawa · Dec 5, 2008

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, but I couldn’t think where else it should go.

I really need an answer, because I’m really bumming out about something.

I’ve been working on this novel since NaNo started, and I was thinking it had pretty good potential. The other night I let a friend read what I had so far. They came back to me and said, it’s really good, but… The awful but… ‘It seems a little like this anime I watched once’. So she told me which anime it was. I’d heard of it, but I’d never seen it before, I didn’t even know what it was about. So I watched all 12 episodes of it. Now, there are some aspects which are similar. For example.

Similarities: two boys fall for each other. There are such things called guardians and the counterpart of the guardian (which is the human) takes the damage when in a battle.

Now, the story lines are almost completely different and the way they fight is slightly different. I was just wondering if I am able to carry on with this, if I have hopes of maybe getting it published one day. Or should I scrap the whole thing, start again and make it completely different?

I’m sorry if this doesn’t make much sense, but it’s gone 3am and I’m really bugging out about this.
Thank you
XX

Clair Dickson · Dec 5, 2008

So... there this space station in the middle of a neutral territory. They each have a captain and a crew who find themselves in the midst of various situations. The alien speices who come through the stations bring their own problems and conflicts. There are different people, different aliens, different wars.

One is called Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
The other is called Babylon Five.

Both were TV shows and both fairly successful.

What you've described is hardly anything to be worried about. Write the story. Since you're aware of the similarities, then you can use that to play up the differences.

Then go make a list of all the stories that are similar to each other. Laugh. And go get some sleep. =)

Ugawa · Dec 5, 2008

You don't know how much you've just put my mind at rest. I've never thought about it that way .

Thank you so much ^^

XX

EndlessDestiny · Dec 5, 2008

And I actually know which show you were talking about. ^^;;

Nakhlasmoke · Dec 5, 2008

Loveless?

hmmmm Doesn't sound quite the same but the concept is familiar enough.

dclary · Dec 5, 2008

Clair Dickson said:
So... there this space station in the middle of a neutral territory. They each have a captain and a crew who find themselves in the midst of various situations. The alien speices who come through the stations bring their own problems and conflicts. There are different people, different aliens, different wars.

One is called Star Trek Deep Space Nine.
The other is called Babylon Five.

Both were TV shows and both fairly successful.

Except that B5 kicked DS9's ass from here to Cardassia. Or Centauri. Your pick.

DarkDesireX · Dec 6, 2008

Gracious. If we all stopped writing whenever we heard of something that sounded a little like ours we'd never get any work done. I guarentee you if you take our a piece of paper and write down the most random thing you can think of there's something, somewhere that's like it. ESPECIALLY if you're talking about anime.

Write what you feel works for you. Just because it's something like something else doesn't mean it's not a golden idea, as long as it's yours.

Ugawa · Dec 6, 2008

Thank you everyone

And yeah, it is Loveless. I'd heard of it, but i'd never watched it before. I guess actually thinking about it, it is almost completely different.

^^

XX

CheshireCat · Dec 6, 2008

dclary said:
Except that B5 kicked DS9's ass from here to Cardassia. Or Centauri. Your pick.

Just had to quote for truth. (I'll pick Centauri Prime, btw. )

And what everybody else said, Ugawa. There's no such thing as an original plot, an original character, or an original situation -- there's only your own unique spin.

So spin away.

Kalyke · Dec 6, 2008

What is copywrited is the "Artist's Expression" Look that up. It means: The actual work. You cannot copy someone's work. Ideas are not copy-rightable. Plots are not copy-rightable. Of course if something has been "seen" too often recently you might not go far with it, but an artists work is protected (even your work) the actual words, lines ways they are put together are protected. So cutting and pasting is illegal. Writing a story about a thing similar to a plot that may or may not be similar to something else published is fair game.

I think most of us with any brains know when we are "copying" someone. On the other hand if I am artistically inspired to write a story about a dog and man in Alaska during the Gold Rush, then I can go to it with a free conscience even though Jack London did it many times, sucessfully, as long as I do not copy his "expression."

Claudia Gray · Dec 6, 2008

I preferred DS9! Just had to speak up for the Trekker contingent.

blacbird · Dec 6, 2008

Use Her Name said:
What is copywrited is the "Artist's Expression"

Please: copyrighted.

"Copywrite" means an entirely different thing.

caw

gothicangel · Dec 7, 2008

Just to echo: copyright exist only over the written text, not ideas. Take for example The Collector (Fowles) and Land of the Living (Nicci French); similar stories.

Also, check out the court case between Dan Brown and the authors of Holy Grail, Holy Blood. The whole trial was hinged on this.

HeronW · Dec 7, 2008

Romeo and Juliet came from Pyramis and Thisbee and went on to evolve into West Side Story, among other similar themes.

Give your take on your world and you'll be fine.

Nefertiti Baker · Dec 7, 2008

There's nothing new under the Sun. Write away! Good luck with your story

Scrawler · Dec 7, 2008

My story is about a girl who falls in love with a boy, and they have to overcome obstacles.
That sounds familiar....
:Shrug:

Plagiarism?

Ugawa

It's a catastrophic success!

Clair Dickson

A dark core to every cloud

Ugawa

It's a catastrophic success!

EndlessDestiny

Nakhlasmoke

yes

dclary

Unabashed Mercenary

DarkDesireX

I like tentacles!

Ugawa

It's a catastrophic success!

CheshireCat

Mostly purring. Mostly.

Kalyke

Claudia Gray

blacbird

gothicangel

Toughen up.

HeronW

Down Under Fan

Nefertiti Baker

~Hot Zen Kitty~

Scrawler

Bored fanatic

Plagiarism?

It's a catastrophic success!

A dark core to every cloud

It's a catastrophic success!

yes

Unabashed Mercenary

I like tentacles!

It's a catastrophic success!

Mostly purring. Mostly.

Toughen up.

Down Under Fan

~*Hot Zen Kitty*~

Bored fanatic

~Hot Zen Kitty~