Ethical Question: Taking Inspiration Vs Blatant Rewrite

[iwatchus]

I'm inspired all the time by stories that I read, but not to build on the specific universe they've created. I take basic ideas and rework them into my own story. I think it's better to resist the impulse to tweak another person's story and concentrate on your own stories, albeit sometimes inspired by or influenced by others. It's better for your own creativity and artistic integrity and it's more courteous to your fellow authors.

Sometimes it's a scenario or a character or a setting. Or just the style that they used. But yeah, never rewriting or extending their story.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Drink. I will not be answering any questions at this time.

At this point we're frat kids roleplaying as knights of the beer pong table a la Monty Python while we play beer pong trying to not black out into a coma that isn't the Oxford, the Walken, and, the, Shatner.

Soon there will be a bingo card.

 

[SimonDoom]

At this point we're frat kids roleplaying as knights of the beer pong table a la Monty Python while we play beer pong trying to not black out into a coma that isn't the Oxford, the Walken, and, the, Shatner.

Soon there will be a bingo card.

Or maybe a new Magic the Gathering card set.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Or maybe a new Magic the Gathering card set.

Gee, now I wonder what the AI rejection card would look like.

 

[Voboy]

Gee, now I wonder what the AI rejection card would look like.

Probably something like...

 

[Britva415]

I read a story once that was a memoir about an individuals sexual experiences and encounters over their life.

I thought that was a great idea, and would like to do something similar for my own experiences.

Would doing so be ok? Or is it steeling their idea?

Are you going to steel their specific experiences they wrote about, too?

The "idea" itself is completely generic and has been executed by countless different authors.

 

[Glassnslate]

No, their experiences are theirs. I liked the idea of listing experiences or writing a memoir if you will of my experiences.

Are you going to steel their specific experiences they wrote about, too?

The "idea" itself is completely generic and has been executed by countless different authors.

 

[Britva415]

No, their experiences are theirs. I liked the idea of listing experiences or writing a memoir if you will of my experiences.

Nothing to worry about, then.

 

[Djmac1031]

I want to get general understanding on where is the limit for taking inspiration?

its pretty simple. You can "borrow" a concept. You can "pay homage" to a character. You can "recreate" a plot.

But if you do all three at once, chances are you just plagiarized the damn thing.

I had a guy reach out to me asking for advice/ criticism of his work in progress supernatural fantasy story.

It was obvious while reviewing it that he'd read many of MY Angels & Demons stories and was using events and characters as inspiration.

But I had to give him credit, because he changed it enough to make his own story out of it and while yes, the influence of my work was obvious, at least to me, it wasn't a blatant rip off either.

I actually felt rather flattered by it, honestly.

 

[DevlinSkye]

Thank you everyone for your inputs and not-so-subtle distractions. @EmilyMiller and @onehitwanda I wonder how I would earn the invite to join this underground army.

@AwkwardMD - I would love to join this drinking game, but I would try not be the cause of it.

Well, for me the conclusion is to drop the idea of rewriting altogether. It's simply not worth it. @Cagivagurl put it, "No matter what I would do, it would be stealing, and I am not interested in trying to play smart."

I was looking at https://www.literotica.com/s/separate-vacations and https://www.literotica.com/s/separate-vacations-parallel-lives. Now, I believe qhm1 had the permission to do this, but that aside, I believe it did give some satisfaction to qhm1 to address his obsession. However, from an individual reader's perspective, I can't relate to that satisfaction.

@8letters - thank you for your response. I remember a discussion of a contraversy with your submission and I think now I understand the whole conflict better.

It feels like I am trying to do the same thing. I would rather write my own draft for my satisfaction and maybefor private circulation among my friends, but it seems at large such a project won't hold much value for other readers.

Now I haven't taggeed everyone but once again, thank you so much for for all your inputs.

 

[DevlinSkye]

Can you explain? Not a challenge, just a question.

I think it's more about the burn or the emotional entanglement with the story. Take the Feb sucks series for example; the whole plot simply gives such a hard burn that it can never have an ending that would satisfy every reader.

Now imagine this: you are invested in a lesbian story. You get associated with the characters; the subtle buildup and entanglement of characters draws you in. When you are looking forward to a romantic happy forever, a dick walks in out of the blue. Now if this is a one-time occurrence, you may ignore it and move on, but what if this dick becomes an integral part of the story going forward and you are so invested in the story and other plots that you can't get out of it?

If that doesn't help, think of Harry Potter. Personally, I am in favor of Harry x Hermione. Ginny? The whole idea that she is like Lily makes it crazy... I don't think Ron deserves Hermione. Heck, I don't even think that Ron deserves to be called a friend. I would rather have Neville in the group, but he had his own arc... That's how the whole fanfic begins.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I think it's more about the burn or the emotional entanglement with the story. Take the Feb sucks series for example; the whole plot simply gives such a hard burn that it can never have an ending that would satisfy every reader.

Now imagine this: you are invested in a lesbian story. You get associated with the characters; the subtle buildup and entanglement of characters draws you in. When you are looking forward to a romantic happy forever, a dick walks in out of the blue. Now if this is a one-time occurrence, you may ignore it and move on, but what if this dick becomes an integral part of the story going forward and you are so invested in the story and other plots that you can't get out of it?

If that doesn't help, think of Harry Potter. Personally, I am in favor of Harry x Hermione. Ginny? The whole idea that she is like Lily makes it crazy... I don't think Ron deserves Hermione. Heck, I don't even think that Ron deserves to be called a friend. I would rather have Neville in the group, but he had his own arc... That's how the whole fanfic begins.

Yeah - never felt any of that reading. If I want a plot to do X, I’ll write it myself, not change someone else’s work.

 

[8letters]

Yeah - never felt any of that reading. If I want a plot to do X, I’ll write it myself, not change soemone else’s work.

That's you, and that's fine. But it sounds like you are trying to force your views on other people. If someone wants to rewrite "February Sucks", I say "Whatever floats their boat". If someone wants to write fan fiction where Harry winds up with Hermione instead of Ginny (who I find bland and boring), more power to them.

What I see always ignored in these discussions is the community. If the LW community enjoys reading "February Sucks" rewrites and someone considers themself a part of that community, I'd recommend to them rewriting "February Sucks" if they don't have a better story idea. Support your community! There are a lot of people out there who'd like to see a story where Harry winds up with Hermione instead of Ginny. Make them happy!

 

[EmilyMiller]

That's you, and that's fine. But it sounds like you are trying to force your views on other people.

Nope. What is it with people hearing words I’ve not used recently ?

 

[AwkwardMD]

Noted plagiarist supports copying others.

Drink.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Noted plagiarist supports copying others.

Drink.

Smug bitch does the smug thing.

Drink.

 

[SimonDoom]

Smug bitch does the smug thing.

Drink.

But with a few drinks, "Am i being too smug?" becomes "Damn, I'm right!"

 

[AwkwardMD]

But with a few drinks, "Am i being too smug?" becomes "Damn, I'm right!"

Which is why we drink so much. Sometimes the anxiety of "having an opinion at all" is soul crushing.

 

[caleb35]

Probably something like...

View attachment 2557748

Yeah, that's a blue MtG card, all right. That's all the blue MtG cards right there.

 

[caleb35]

This is where I draw the line: I use copyright law as my rough guideline. Copyright distinguishes between the general ideas of a story, which are not protectable, and the original creative expression of a story, which is protectable. "Expression" can be the specific text, names, character traits and places at a certain level of detail, and specific plot points. The law is not super clear, but that's the general gist of it.

So my view is it's perfectly OK, for example, to write a "mom on son's lap" story, even though somebody here might have been the first person to do it, because it's just a general idea. Same thing with the "hucow" concept, or the "mailgirl" concept. You should feel free to write your own story that is based very roughly on the concepts of another author's story, because under the law the author has no valid copyright claim to broad concepts in a work of fiction. It would be too restrictive on the creative process to prevent authors from incorporating ideas at a broad level from other works they've read.

What I WILL NOT do:

1. Write a story that very obviously is a continuation of somebody else's story.
2. Use the same characters as in another story.
3. Write a story with the plot but with character names changed.
4. Write a story that is clearly simply a variation on another author's story.

A good rule of thumb would be: would it be clear to a reasonable reader who read the other story that you ripped it off, if they read your story also? If the answer is yes, then I wouldn't do that.

Based on what the OP wrote, I would NOT do what is proposed. I would make enough changes to the story that it's clear not really the same story, but your own story that incorporates some of the same general ideas as the other story.

This is a fantastic answer and I'm replying partly to thank you for this concise, accurate take but also to bookmark it for myself for future reference. I have used other stories in my writing as inspiration, but that's it. I don't reuse the plot or the characters. Purely as a writing exercise only, in the last year I did start editing another writer's work, just to see what I could do with it. But 1) I would never think of posting that as my own work, and 2) I gave up after a while because I decided I'd rather write my own piece anyway than put time and effort into someone else's. If I'm going to be an editor, I'll edit; if I want to be a writer, I'll create.

 

[SimonDoom]

Which is why we drink so much. Sometimes the anxiety of "having an opinion at all" is soul crushing.

I have probably been guilty of this. Not that I drank with this intent, but that it had this consequence.