A question of plagiarism

akbowens · Nov 15, 2011

I've been considering creating a character that resembles the Roman senator and historian Tacitus. Of course, its not meant to be Tacitus as it would not be historical fiction. But, I still want an astute reader to clue in to who the character is modeled after in the real world.

If I were to use some of the published words of Tacitus, tweak and change them to fit the fantasy world, would that be considered plagiarism?

Excuse me for the noob question.

Thanks

amergina · Nov 15, 2011

Not if you state in an author's note (like at the end of the book) that you based some of the writings and words of your Tacitus-like character after the works of Tacitus, and then list the works.

Just be sure to use a public-domain translation as your tweaking source.

ETA: I should add that IANAL.

Just a writer.

dangerousbill · Nov 15, 2011

akbowens said:
Excuse me for the noob question.

Actually, it's a pretty subtle question.

If Tacitus is a character in your story, it's okay to use his words. Tweaking his words to fit another character would also be okay, if some form of attribution was made, eg,

Roman soldier #4: "That guy Plagiarus sounds just like Tacitus."

Plagiarism occurs when you try to pass off someone else's writing as your own, even if that person died many centuries ago.

akbowens · Nov 15, 2011

dangerousbill said:
Actually, it's a pretty subtle question.

If Tacitus is a character in your story, it's okay to use his words. Tweaking his words to fit another character would also be okay, if some form of attribution was made, eg,

Roman soldier #4: "That guy Plagiarus sounds just like Tacitus."

Plagiarism occurs when you try to pass off someone else's writing as your own, even if that person died many centuries ago.

Thanks. That helped. Plagiarus, ROFL

A question of plagiarism

akbowens

amergina

Pittsburgh Strong

dangerousbill

Retired Illuminatus

akbowens