Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series has been accused of copying from other fantasy stories. He uses character names and attributes from Tolkien, plot lines from StarWars, and some ideas from Le Guin. And he is certainly not the only author out there to be accused of plagiarism. Even Shakespeare has been accused of plagiarism.
Some argue that all books are rip-offs in one way or another of other books. Authors are pickpockets who steal bits and pieces, manipulate them, and use them. Sort of like junk art, where sculptors take other people's garbage, scrap metal, whatever, and put it all together to create something new. Or even artists who say take the image of the Mona Lisa and rework it to make it a man, or Britney Spears, or a dog. While this is generally accepted in visual arts, the written word has always been a bit more sacrosanct. You do not steal someone's words or ideas. It's copyright; it's illegal; it's immoral; it's lazy.....
Today's generation seems to be much more fluid in this idea however. They live in a copy and paste world where taking other people's property and mixing it together is considered acceptable. It's not plagiarism, it's an homage, a way of paying respect to the greats who came before. Film makers and music artists have used this argument for remaking or re-adapting films and songs for decades. When Madonna sang American Pie to a new beat, no one accused her of plagiarism. At least not that I'm aware.
Despite her open acknowledgment of taking from others, she is still up for numerous awards and her book is a top seller. Oddly enough or fittingly enough, people who are buying her book are also buying Airen's Strobo, which was previously an almost unknown work. I do wonder if the real issue for people regarding this sort of plagiarism is money. Hegemann is making a ton of cash off the work of others; although it could be argued that her artful juxtaposition and blending of this work is what made it valuable. Still, people see what she has done as lazy, a way to make money without putting forth the effort.
People do like to say the real reason, the noble reason, for disgust with this action is that it is immoral to steal from others. Others argue - like me - that it shows a lack of originality. Hegemann is quoted as saying, "There’s no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity". I am terrified by this concept. If we blithely accept that originality doesn't exist, if we allow this mixing to continually occur, we are stifling not expanding our creativity (in my opinion, obviously). We will become bogged down in regurgitating the work of others instead of interested in creating our own new work.
Because of the various methods of "plagiarism" I am unsure of any definite opinion on my part. While I have very little problem with Paolini's Eragon, I do have issues with Hegemann's "mixing". Then again, if she had made the issue abundantly clear in an introduction to the book, if she had flat out stated "ideas and words have been taken from xxx", I'm not sure I would have as big an issue. I still think a tendency towards this stifles creativity, but I wouldn't consider it an issue of legality or immorality if sources were cited.
Ultimately the nuances of plagiarism, the variety of methods one can employ both intentional and unintentional, straight forward and indirect, make the issue of plagiarism very very fuzzy. What do you guys think?
I think what really matters is how much is bought from the original source. If Madonna remixed and re-sang American Pie, I'll bet she paid good money to get the rights to the tune and lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI understand tribute. The book I just wrote drew influence from a song I love, and I used a line - a fairly generic line, mind you - from the song as a tribute to my band. Of course, they are a little-known band and I could just write to ask for permission if the book ends up being published, but this was my way of saying thanks to them for all the wonderful influence they've had on me through the years. I don't mind that.
Taking whole passages and ideas, on the other hand, DOES bother me. I don't even like spin-off type books, like those books that draw on Jane Austen's characters (except when it's a parody, like P&P&Z).
I had issues with The Magicians for these reasons. I kept thinking, "dude, create your own world...stop borrowing from Lewis and Rowling." And the guy who re-writes all the fairy tales...Gregory Maguire...the first time it was clever, then it became tiresome, like he was capitalizing on it.
ReplyDeleteI actually completely disagree with Jill that retelling fairy tales is in any way unoriginal - especially because fairy tales are so bare. They're most just plot, so when you retell it you have to add the characterisation, the worldbuilding, the dialogue, etc. That doesn't take any less skill than writing a novel NOT based on a fairy tale, I don't think. With Maguire, I know Oz is a novel itself, not a fairy tale. But it surprises me that anyone can call what he did with Baum's Oz unoriginal. His version of Oz is so detailed, so rich, and so completely new.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I value the creative angle even more than the ethical one when it comes to these things. Not that the sketchy ethics of it don't matter, of course. But intellectual laziness worries me. It's easy to see when someone actually put something of themselves into their work, even if it's influenced by other things. For me, originality is in that personal touch.
There's a big difference between being derivative (like Paolini and MANY other fantasy writers) and outright -- well -- copying. I have a problem with Hegemann's work, based on your description. Did she have that blogger's permission to copy her writing?
ReplyDeleteThe statement that there's no such thing as originality is ridiculous. Granted, there are many shared themes and stories in literature, and writers lift a great deal of material from life. But there is still originality in how you work with words and how you tell a story from a unique perspective.
Great post, Trisha. I believe that a "tribute" or a "creative reimagining" like a great cover of a song or Maguire's Wicked takes energy and thought and hard work. What worries me is intellectual laziness, not wanting to put real effort into a creation. To second Stephanie, of course there is orginality. There are shared themes and ideas in literature, as in all creative endeavours, and the work of a writer is to make them their own.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid a lot of this has to do with marketing and money.
This is a tough issue, as you point out, especially in literature. My mind immediately goes back to various poets who used to "respond" or "shout out" to one another in their poetry. Literature, as an old prof of mine used to say, is an "ongoing conversation" wherein things do get mixed. However, my concern is the same as yours: a lack of originality or maybe just an overwhelming sense of laziness. The old guys and gals seemed to do it in such an artful way as opposed to that "ripping off" way.
ReplyDeleteI think you need to credit your sources, inspiration etc when you use someone else's ideas to "make something new." But taking something wholesale and passing it off as your own with no credit or ackknowledgement is just wrong.
ReplyDeleteAs for using characters plot lines, etc., look at how many "spin-offs" or "sequels" or "alternatives" of classics about these days--mainly Jane Austen. This seems to be perfectly acceptable, as long as the original work has no copyright (because Salinger will totally sue you if you try to make a Catcher in the Rye sequel).
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, George Lucas based Star Wars off of the Hero's Journey, so how can you really say anyone could copy it?
Thanks for the ideas everyone! I think I may narrow down the topic and have a few more posts this month on this specific topic.
ReplyDeleteSometimes you have to think there's nothing new under the sun. If you look hard enough, you might conclude every book in the world is plagarized to some extent. I think every author puts their own stamp on an old idea.
ReplyDeleteThe non plagiarized research papers are rare to find but we offer this by online. Our expertise are there to servethem est services by saving their time and money.
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