Couldn't hurt...

A question by Chliever on 2010-04-22 18:51:00 UTC Reply

I have a goodfic that I really love, but the thing is, it has some pretty overt homages to other movies and things the author likes. For instance, there's an arena scene that's pretty much the arena scene from Star Wars Episode II, right down to a line about the party being over and the bad guy getting away on a speeder thing.

Does this constitute plagiarism? Am I supporting plagiaraism be enjoying the fic? Please tell me, I'm very conflicted...

An answer by Sedri on 2010-04-23 04:49:00 UTC Reply

You're allowed to like whatever you like - as someone wise once said, there's no accounting for taste. Also, you're hardly "supporting" anything; if it were a bought book, yes, but this is the Internet - the only way you could 'support' the fic would be to widely advertise it on different forums and communities as a great fic. So don't worry there.

As for whether or not it's plagiarism in the first place... maybe. Probably, if it's not actually a Star Wars fic. To me it mostly reeks of lack of imagination, but as you're comparing a canonical work to a fanfic work, it's not much of an issue.

If you think they would take it well, I'd say there's no harm in tactfully telling them you find the homages too overt. Use your best judgement.

:)
I don't think so... by Nakkel on 2010-04-22 20:25:00 UTC Reply

If you like it, you like it. There's nothing that anyone can really do about that. And if it's a fanfiction, then it can't really be called on charges of plagiarism, if that was even something to worry about in the first place. Take Eragon for example: people dislike it for the purple prose. Most of the plot can be correlated to events in the star wars series, but I can honestly say that if the story wasn't so focused on Eragon and the writing was so floral, it might actually be a decent fantasy yarn, like a David Eddings book kind of thing.

I disagree by Elcalion on 2010-04-23 03:05:00 UTC Reply

about "Fanfic can't be plagiarism".

Fanfic is, almost by definition, copyright infringement (unless the owner gives express permission or the work is in the public domain - author's death + either 50 or 70 years depending on where you are), but that's a separate issue to plagiarism.

Summarising in my own words, here's the difference (based on conversations I've had over the years with my sister, who's a copyright lawyer - although I may have got confuzzed on some of the details):

Copyright infringement is, basically, someone taking someone else's intellectual property and using it without permission - e.g. say, if Warner Brothers used Mickey Mouse in one of their cartoons without permission, that would be copyright infringement.

Plagiarism is someone passing-off another's work as their own. Fanfic can definitely be plagiarism - the whole fandom wank surrounding the Cassandra Claire Draco Trilogy is a case in point.

Whether Eragon is plagiarised is a separate issue. It definitely is heavily inspired by Star Wars in matters of plot, but for it to be plagiarism, I think it would need to be lifting lines of dialogue with little modification.

As for the fic Chliever mentioned; not sure if it would count as plagiarism per se, but does sound as if the author is a little bit shameless in their borrowings/hommages.

Elcalion, descending from soapbox

Re: I disagree by Chliever on 2010-04-23 03:58:00 UTC Reply

He admits them, that he's inspired by those things. He says it's a tribute to things he likes, intending to portray them positively. The vast majority of the fic is quite well-written and original and has no need to plagiarize, so I believe him personally.

He is, however, known to revise his fics when he gets done with them. Do you think I should ask him to make the references less overt?

Couldn't hurt... by Elcalion on 2010-04-23 14:31:00 UTC Reply

Even if doesn't cross the line to plagiarism, a too-blatant shout-out might only serve to annoy some (like me) who like their references subtle. In this, as in many things, following the example of Terry Pratchett, cause let's face it, the Discworld series is littered with shout-outs and hommages- but PTerry never (or rarely) just quotes a line unaltered.

In summary, yeah, as much as "This party... Is over!" is an awesome line, I think they should be able to find an effective way to evoke it rather than invoking it, to coin a phrase.

Elcalion

Will do by Chliever on 2010-04-23 15:06:00 UTC Reply

I'm quite cordial with this guy; I've actually told him about you guys and that I've rec'd his story here, he was flattered. He said he'd listen to any advice you had for him, so, yeah, I'll tell him.