Writing a similar story

[rodav]

Is it ok to write a story inspired from and very similar to another Story? If we just change the names of some of the characters and some locations. Also to change some dialogues and add more dialogues of your own? But the plot is almost the same?

Will there be any legal problems that goes with it?f

 

[Ferax]

Copyright is Fickle

You are discussing something called "fair use".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

Before you write such a story I would recommend you evaluate your reasons for writing it. Does the world need another story like it? Does it bring a new take or a new twist?

But you should never copy lines and just change names and locations. If you are using a copy paste function, you are probably not in Fair Use.

 

[Dishie]

Food for thought...

Along with the previous response, you also don't want to piss off the original author. I'd be pretty ticked off if someone bogarted one of my stories to make it their own (I don't have a story here yet...it's in the review stage). I'm a published author and I may want to take my original story and turn it into something more public.

 

[rdodger]

I use the Creative Commons by-nc-sa license, which allows for derivative works. However, you're not describing a derivative work - you're cloning a story and changing a few things here and there. I also agree that's not fair use.

You can certainly use a similar plot. I'm sure I've written stories with plots similar to other stories I've written. But I do try (assuming I remember the source) to make what I write clearly my own creation.

Besides, where's the pride of authorship if you're just copying material from someone else?

 

[sr71plt]

Just a note that the OP question has nothing whatsoever to do with the Fair Use doctrine--unless what the OP wants to write is a parody of the original. Doesn't sound like that's the intent.

Fair Use is mostly for library copying for educational classroom use.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Is it ok to write a story inspired from and very similar to another Story? If we just change the names of some of the characters and some locations. Also to change some dialogues and add more dialogues of your own? But the plot is almost the same?

Will there be any legal problems that goes with it?f

Not legal problems, but ethical ones maybe. Such as plagiarism, lack of originality, theft.

Why would you even contemplate doing something like that? Your description sounds like copying someone else's work to me.

This comes up regularly, and the answers are always the same:
1) copyright is irrelevant; and
2) write your own work, not someone else's.

 

[Bramblethorn]

You are discussing something called "fair use".

Copyright does not protect ideas, only a particular expression of those ideas.

If the OP uses another person's plot, but tells it in their own words, copyright is not an issue so fair use is irrelevant.

 

[Hypoxia]

I suspect some sharp-eyed fans of the original's author might notice and disapprove of your blatant copy. They may harshly mistreat you. Be prepared for outrage.

I wrote one story (as yet unpublished) that was very much inspired by 1972 underground comix. I retold a tale nearly scene-for-scene but totally with my own words, my own descriptions and speech, carefully checked to ensure NO copying. I consider it a translation into another medium.

I'll cite a precedent: The old silent film NOSFERATU was a blatant copy of the DRACULA story but with every word of the shooting script different from anything in Stoker's novel or authorized stage version. It still had legal problems, being unauthorized.

Am I proud of my 'translation'? I dunno. Without copying a single word, I could bring that bizarre tale to an audience who had nearly zero chance of seeing the original. But none of the STORY is mine, only the words.It's like I transcribed a video but changed all names, dialog, etc. I give the original authors full credit. Is it theft?

 

[ChloeTzang]

Is it ok to write a story inspired from and very similar to another Story? If we just change the names of some of the characters and some locations. Also to change some dialogues and add more dialogues of your own? But the plot is almost the same?

Will there be any legal problems that goes with it?f

Steal the plot, write your own story. If you're starting out, by all means take the original story as a starting point and write and rewrite until it's original. If you try the approach you state above, that's to plagiarized, if you tried that on LIT someone would report it and zappo, rejected. So use that as a starting point and keep rewriting until you have something original.

Being honest, that's what I did with my very first story here. I had no idea how to write so I took a story I liked and rewrote it and submitted. After 3 rejections and a huge amount of rewriting it finally got accepted. Try that approach. It's a good a way as any to get started.

 

[Handley_Page]

Is it ok to write a story inspired from and very similar to another Story? If we just change the names of some of the characters and some locations. Also to change some dialogues and add more dialogues of your own? But the plot is almost the same?

Will there be any legal problems that goes with it?f

You might at least try to contact the original Author to get a stamp of approval.
It's been done with films.
'El Dorado' & 'Rio Bravo' are exactly the same story (despite which they are both damned good, IMO)

So it's not as if you are trying to do anything 'wrong'.
Just make sure you properly attribute the original story.

 

[RetroFan]

Given the sheer number of stories on Literotica, it is inevitable that some are going to be similar.

For example, fat girl fetish stories are pretty popular. I wrote a story series recently called 'My Best Friend's Crazy Fat Sister', which as the title suggests is about a crazy fat girl. Could another author have written a story about a crazy fat girl in the past, which I have never read? Very possibly. Could another author, ignorant of my work sit down one night and think, "You know what would be great? A fetish story about a crazy fat girl?" and write it accordingly? Again, a definite possibility.

But if there were too many similarities between my story series and a new overweight girl fetish story, I wouldn't be overly pleased about it.

 

[oggbashan]

What the OP seems to be suggesting is not 'writing a similar story' but copying it with minor amendments.

That is plagiarism.

Writing your version of the plotline and adding detail? That can be a tribute to the original story or another version entirely. Shakespeare used Holinshed's Chronicles for some of his plays. Many people have used Shakespeare for other plays and operas.

But the results were completely new creative works.

I have done that, not very successfully, with a couple of my stories - one translated from the original German and much expanded; the other based on a premise by Piers Anthony in his short story "The Bridge". For the second one I wrote about what happens AFTER Anthony's story ends but I had to rewrite the beginning to make an afterwards possible.

In both stories I acknowledge my debt to the originals.

That is not what the OP seems to be trying to do.

 

[SimonDoom]

A few thoughts:

1. There's nothing wrong whatsoever about writing a story that is based upon, or borrows from, the idea of another story. As Bramblethorn says above, copyright does not protect ideas, it protects the unique creative expression of ideas. Bramblethorn is incorrect, however, in saying that you are free to take the plot. That's not true. All elements of a story -- names, words, dialogue, plot, characters, etc. -- can, potentially, be protected by copyright. The issue is whether what you are taking from another work is sufficiently detailed, specific, and unique to that work that it constitutes expression rather than an idea. That is the key: you are perfectly free to borrow another story's ideas; you are not free to borrow its expression.

2. So, for example: There are a ton of stories on Literotica about moms and sons who get frisky in the back seats of cars, usually while dad is driving. If you read such a story and you get inspired and want to write your own, go for it. I wrote my own version of a story along these lines, although it was set on a loveseat in a house, not in a car. The idea for the story was not original. I got it from someone else. But there's nothing wrong, or infringing, or plagiarizing about it, because no one owns the right to the idea. Although I was inspired to write the story by one of the stories along these lines that I read (I forget which one), I didn't borrow the plot details, dialogue, narration, character traits, or names from any other story. So there's no infringement or plagiarism.

3. You should feel perfectly free, with no qualms whatsoever, to take an idea from another story and to write your own story based on that idea. To give an example, there currently are a number of authors writing stories based on the "mailgirl" concept. Somebody came up with the idea, but the idea isn't proprietary. Now there are quite a number of stories based on this idea. There's no plagiarism or infringement in doing so. If you want to write your own mailgirl story, you can and should do so without any worries about copyright infringement or plagiarism.

4. If you want to do this but avoid trouble, then do the following: take your cue from someone else's idea, but when you write your story come up with your own plot points, character traits, and character and place names, and don't copy any of the dialogue or narration of the other story. If you do that, you're probably fine.

5. Another point is that copyright expires after a while (life of the author + 75 years), so you are perfectly free to write a story that borrows freely from expired works. If you want to write a porn version of Pride and Prejudice you are entitled to do so because the copyright in that book expired a long time ago.

6. Some people take a more categorical position that you shouldn't borrow from others and should write your own stuff. I completely disagree. Borrowing ideas from others has a long and honorable history. Shakespeare did it. Amy Heckerling's movie Clueless obviously borrows plot elements and characters from Jane Austen's Emma. The creative borrowing of ideas from other works is a good thing, not a bad thing; it's bad only when what's borrowed is so specific that it constitutes the borrowing of expression and not just ideas.

7. As SR71PLT often points out when these threads pop up, these are somewhat theoretical concerns because the prospect of enforcing a copyright in an anonymously published erotic story is close to zero. The main concern is whether the site owner will view your work as infringing or plagiarizing somebody else's work. To avoid that possibility, you probably are OK if you abide by the guidelines in 4, above.

 

[Handley_Page]

It might be worth studying this info-graphic.

It's about Plagiarism.

 

[latecomer91364]

Is it ok to write a story inspired from and very similar to another Story? If we just change the names of some of the characters and some locations. Also to change some dialogues and add more dialogues of your own? But the plot is almost the same?

Will there be any legal problems that goes with it?f

No offense, but why bother? If you're interested in writing, then write. Make up your own stuff rather than lifting somebody else's. To borrow a phrase from Truman Capote and adapt it's meaning to this: the popular notion is that he said: "That's not writing, that's typing". What he actually said in a 1957 interview was: "But yes, there is such an animal as a nonstylist. Only they’re not writers. They’re typists. Sweaty typists blacking up pounds of Bond with formless, eyeless, earless messages."

Again, no offense intended, but if you cannot come up with your own ideas, perhaps a hobby other than writing would be more suitable.

Just sayin'...

 

[Bramblethorn]

No offense, but why bother? If you're interested in writing, then write. Make up your own stuff rather than lifting somebody else's. To borrow a phrase from Truman Capote and adapt it's meaning to this: the popular notion is that he said: "That's not writing, that's typing".

Capote is best known for his retelling of a story that he didn't make up. Just sayin'...

 

[Bramblethorn]

A few thoughts:

1. There's nothing wrong whatsoever about writing a story that is based upon, or borrows from, the idea of another story. As Bramblethorn says above, copyright does not protect ideas, it protects the unique creative expression of ideas. Bramblethorn is incorrect, however, in saying that you are free to take the plot. That's not true. All elements of a story -- names, words, dialogue, plot, characters, etc. -- can, potentially, be protected by copyright. The issue is whether what you are taking from another work is sufficiently detailed, specific, and unique to that work that it constitutes expression rather than an idea. That is the key: you are perfectly free to borrow another story's ideas; you are not free to borrow its expression.

You're right that copyright is a bit broader than just protecting words, and I'm aware of legal precedent for characters being covered by copyright (the Gaiman v. McFarlane cases). But I'm struggling to think of a case where anybody got dinged for copyright violation solely for pinching somebody else's plot - any suggestions?

If that was even a slight possibility, I'm amazed that Lucasfilm never went after a certain well-known book and film franchise that was blatantly Star Wars with dragons.

 

[latecomer91364]

Capote is best known for his retelling of a story that he didn't make up. Just sayin'...

So? 'In Cold Blood' is a well written masterpiece of true crime, which was a major proponent of turning a few previous smatterings of 'True Crime' novels into an acknowledged genre, which flourishes today. He was a very respected writer long before 1966, when that was published. He was popular before his first actual novel the fictional 'Other Voices, Other Rooms' was very successful in 1948, 18 years before 'Cold Blood'. Later the fictional 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' was a huge hit, 8 years before 'Blood'. Not sure I get your point at all.

Just sayin'...

 

[sr71plt]

So? 'In Cold Blood' is a well written masterpiece of true crime, which was a major proponent of turning a few previous smatterings of 'True Crime' novels into an acknowledged genre, which flourishes today. He was a very respected writer long before 1966, when that was published. He was popular before his first actual novel the fictional 'Other Voices, Other Rooms' was very successful in 1948, 18 years before 'Cold Blood'. Later the fictional 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' was a huge hit, 8 years before 'Blood'. Not sure I get your point at all.

Just sayin'...

I've been scratching my head on that one too. The comment is only relevant, I think, if someone else had already written up In Cold Blood and Capote had written a parallel text to that one. Was there already a version out there?

 

[sr71plt]

You're right that copyright is a bit broader than just protecting words, and I'm aware of legal precedent for characters being covered by copyright (the Gaiman v. McFarlane cases). But I'm struggling to think of a case where anybody got dinged for copyright violation solely for pinching somebody else's plot - any suggestions?

As I think someone has already mentioned, plots can't be copyrighted. Under certain limited and hard-to-achieve circumstances they could be trademarked. But that rarely happens and those plotlines would have to be quite specific.

 

[latecomer91364]

I've been scratching my head on that one too. The comment is only relevant, I think, if someone else had already written up In Cold Blood and Capote had written a parallel text to that one. Was there already a version out there?

Not that I ever heard of. I still get chills remembering the chills it gave me when I read it in the early seventies.

 

[Bramblethorn]

No offense, but why bother? If you're interested in writing, then write. Make up your own stuff rather than lifting somebody else's...

Again, no offense intended, but if you cannot come up with your own ideas, perhaps a hobby other than writing would be more suitable.

So? 'In Cold Blood' is a well written masterpiece of true crime, which was a major proponent of turning a few previous smatterings of 'True Crime' novels into an acknowledged genre, which flourishes today. He was a very respected writer long before 1966, when that was published. He was popular before his first actual novel the fictional 'Other Voices, Other Rooms' was very successful in 1948, 18 years before 'Cold Blood'. Later the fictional 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' was a huge hit, 8 years before 'Blood'. Not sure I get your point at all.

My point is that good writing doesn't require coming up with brand-new ideas. ICB is acclaimed not because Capote invented the Clutter family and their murderers, but because of his skill in writing about the events and characters that the universe had already presented to him. Nobody accuses him of being a hack for "not coming up with his own stuff".

When we read non-fiction, we understand that original invention is not the only thing that can give value writing. So why do people insist that it is, when talking about fiction?

(Even though "authors recycling one another's plots and archetypes" is practically the entire history of fiction...)

 

[latecomer91364]

My point is that good writing doesn't require coming up with brand-new ideas. ICB is acclaimed not because Capote invented the Clutter family and their murderers, but because of his skill in writing about the events and characters that the universe had already presented to him. Nobody accuses him of being a hack for "not coming up with his own stuff".

When we read non-fiction, we understand that original invention is not the only thing that can give value writing. So why do people insist that it is, when talking about fiction?

(Even though "authors recycling one another's plots and archetypes" is practically the entire history of fiction...)

The point of the thread is about borrowing somebody else's ideas for fiction. Nobody accuses screenwriters for adaptations of other works a 'hack' either - there's an Oscar category specifically for that. I still don't get your comment on my post in relation to the purpose of the thread.

 

[Bramblethorn]

The point of the thread is about borrowing somebody else's ideas for fiction. Nobody accuses screenwriters for adaptations of other works a 'hack' either - there's an Oscar category specifically for that. I still don't get your comment on my post in relation to the purpose of the thread.

My point is that it seems very arbitrary to apply a double standard re. the importance of originality, depending on whether the author's borrowing from the real world or somebody else's fiction. (And as you note, even within borrowing-from-fiction it's not applied consistently.)

 

[latecomer91364]

My point is that it seems very arbitrary to apply a double standard re. the importance of originality, depending on whether the author's borrowing from the real world or somebody else's fiction. (And as you note, even within borrowing-from-fiction it's not applied consistently.)

Maybe it's a matter of opinion, but there is no double standard about originality in the world of FICTION. Good writing is essential, but just as much, if not more important is originality. It's FICTION. Stealing somebody else's plot and doctoring it a little, changing dialogue here and there doesn't get you any brownie points because you 'reworded' it well. It's FICTION we're talking about in this thread, not non-fiction, journalism or adaptation. FICTION is where originality has to stand on its own.