Am I . . . stealing?!

[Maze_Runner]

So I've told people that my books are inspired by some of my favorite book series . . . I mean it says that on my profile page, but the thing is everyone is always like, 'Oh isn't that stealing?!' or, 'That book is a lot like this series . . .' and part of me is like well yeah . . . I literally will say what book is inspired by. Does anyone else think it's weird that I do this or do others do this too? Would you say it's 'stealing . . .? Am I stealing these concepts?!

 

[RepresentingWrath]

You might've unintentionally plagiarized something, which isn't stealing per se.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

It's not stealing but if you unintentionally plagiarized something then you could be sued under copyright laws. However, that is only if you officially publish the book with whatever you accidentally plagiarized. If you didn't specifically plagiarize anything purposefully or not then your book would just be considered a cheap knockoff or parody of whatever it is based on if it's too much like the other. Though you can't be sued for having an imitation.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

O’Bannon of Alien admits that he took a lot of story elements from other movies.

"I didn't steal Alien from anybody. I stole it from everybody!"

Including story elements from:

• The Thing from Another World — Men chased by an alien in a confined environment.
• Planet of the Vampires — A giant alien skeleton discovered.
• Forbidden Planet — A crew being killed one by one after going to a forbidden planet.
• The short story Junkyard — Crew lands on an asteroid and discovers a chamber full of eggs.

Those are just a few of the influences he has noted.

As long as it isn't a 1:1 it should be fine.

 

[MissPaige36]

So I've told people that my books are inspired by some of my favorite book series . . . I mean it says that on my profile page, but the thing is everyone is always like, 'Oh isn't that stealing?!' or, 'That book is a lot like this series . . .' and part of me is like well yeah . . . I literally will say what book is inspired by. Does anyone else think it's weird that I do this or do others do this too? Would you say it's 'stealing . . .? Am I stealing these concepts?!

I mean I’ve seen many cases of that too. Some are so heavily ‘inspired’ that their novel feels like a fanfiction with OC characters. I mean, it’s up to you on whether or not you’re stealing those concepts. You’re allowed to borrow them, like tags or tropes but if you basically copy paste someone else’s story line into your own? Sorry buddy, that’s plagiarism.

 

[Bartun]

So I've told people that my books are inspired by some of my favorite book series . . . I mean it says that on my profile page, but the thing is everyone is always like, 'Oh isn't that stealing?!' or, 'That book is a lot like this series . . .' and part of me is like well yeah . . . I literally will say what book is inspired by. Does anyone else think it's weird that I do this or do others do this too? Would you say it's 'stealing . . .? Am I stealing these concepts?!

It is not stealing to take inspiration from other works. Every movie or book has taken something from someone else because they thought it was cool. Even if you take whole scenes or plot points, Star Wars: A New Hope outright copied two obscure war WW2 movies for its famous "trench run" scene, The Dambusters and 633 Mosquito Squadron, yet it was never accused of plagiarism.

Just take a look yourself:

 

[CupcakeNinja]

So I've told people that my books are inspired by some of my favorite book series . . . I mean it says that on my profile page, but the thing is everyone is always like, 'Oh isn't that stealing?!' or, 'That book is a lot like this series . . .' and part of me is like well yeah . . . I literally will say what book is inspired by. Does anyone else think it's weird that I do this or do others do this too? Would you say it's 'stealing . . .? Am I stealing these concepts?!

Those people are literally retards

 

[BlackKnightX]

So I've told people that my books are inspired by some of my favorite book series . . . I mean it says that on my profile page, but the thing is everyone is always like, 'Oh isn't that stealing?!' or, 'That book is a lot like this series . . .' and part of me is like well yeah . . . I literally will say what book is inspired by. Does anyone else think it's weird that I do this or do others do this too? Would you say it's 'stealing . . .? Am I stealing these concepts?!

Depends. I assume stealing means that you’ve completely plagiarized others’ works. But if you didn’t, then it’s okay—maybe.

It’s kind of complicated, you know. Depends on a lot of factors. If your books are really really similar to others’ books with copyright and everything, and you monetize your books, then you might have some legal issues. Yep, might have, not will have. Like I said, it depends on a lot of factors.

I’m not quite sure, but I think chances of you getting sued for writing something similar is slim, unless you really did copy other’s work to a T.

But if it’s only inspiration, then I don’t think there’s any problem with that, unless the owner of the works you drew inspiration from want to nitpick you—don’t know about book industry, but it sure happens a lot in music.

But inspiration really is a thing. When you‘re inspired by something, you want to create something similar, right? It’s normal. I mean, look at all these isekai stories and the fantasy elements in them. How many elements are really original? The elf, the dwarf, game system, Truck-kun, etc. All these are inspired elements, it’s not original at all. Not to mention the plot, the character’s archetype, etc. These are inspirations, not plagiarism.

 

[Rainbowhero]

So I've told people that my books are inspired by some of my favorite book series . . . I mean it says that on my profile page, but the thing is everyone is always like, 'Oh isn't that stealing?!' or, 'That book is a lot like this series . . .' and part of me is like well yeah . . . I literally will say what book is inspired by. Does anyone else think it's weird that I do this or do others do this too? Would you say it's 'stealing . . .? Am I stealing these concepts?!

I actually just read novels and sometimes I'll take an idea, and make it my own, I never truly call it stealing as it's so far off target from what the original idea is that I don't even remember what I'm referencing unless I really sit on it. Most of my Plots are made by me Ash soul, Gamble bun, and some unreleased things that I didn't want to dedicate time to, and instead threw it onto another author of higher caliber as an idea for them to use. As long as you are dedicating a lot of originality to your work, and not just straight up taking someone else's work and relabeling it as yours, I'd say you're not stealing anything from anyone. I'd more or less just call it taking reference from the story as many authors do. If people really cared that much about people referencing their work, then there would definitely be fewer authors, Game designers, and artists in the world (maybe not as much less, but there would be a lot less than there are now). I kinda wished people would treat their creations similarly to how coders treat their work, as public data for anyone and anything to mess with, under leeway that they don't mess up the experience for others who are experiencing the code.

Btw: I think I might have gotten the bun name from Cinnamon Bun, but honestly, I already was making the race, I just kinda took the bun part because I couldn't think of a name other than gamble bun, and anyone could think of the name "bun" for a rabbit race.

Edit: and even if someone did steal my work, I expect them to at least bring new ideas to the table while using them, they have to put a new twist to the race or make them have a new enemy at least to make me respect you. copying it down to the line is not something I can respect, if you can't even dedicate the time to make it at least different from the source, then you don't deserve whatever title you call yourself, I can't respect people who steal other people's idea to make a profit.

I also don't respect Oreo's

 

[CarburetorThompson]

Every original story has already been created. We are now just rehashing troupes, characters, genres and plot elements together to make something that on the outside appears original. If you concede that unintentional/unconscious plagiarism is a thing than you must also concede that everyone alive who has written a story has stolen elements of it.

 

[lnv]

So I've told people that my books are inspired by some of my favorite book series . . . I mean it says that on my profile page, but the thing is everyone is always like, 'Oh isn't that stealing?!' or, 'That book is a lot like this series . . .' and part of me is like well yeah . . . I literally will say what book is inspired by. Does anyone else think it's weird that I do this or do others do this too? Would you say it's 'stealing . . .? Am I stealing these concepts?!

That's like asking, if wheels were invented by someone, does that mean us all using wheels are stealing?

End of the day, everything in life is founded by our predecessors and built up on it. (well actually given to us by our cat masters but let us foolish humans believe). You can't do anything without basing it even partly on the works of others, even our english language is based on people making up words over time and them being adopted. So end of the day, it isn't about what you "copy" it's about "how" you do it. The biggest mistake an author can make is copying something without thinking if it actually fits into their story. Because most of the thought process is already done, we blindly assume that it is okay, only to not realize that while it may be okay in story A, it isn't okay with story B. Otherwise, as long as the thought process is properly done, and the cat master approves, go ahead and do it, nothing wrong with it.

As for those saying "hey isn't this a copy of this story". Well, I'll say this. I've seen people say that all the time that Story A is a copy of Story B despite story A has been out YEARS before story B. People unfortunately think they are the center of the universe not realizing they are actually late to the party. So I wouldn't worry too much about it. That said, depending on how you present your writing, even if it is a copy and paste, people may not even notice. So if you feel like you want to do something about it, focus on the presentation.

 

[LostLibrarian]

Even Tolkien used ancient tropes to write LOTR. Let alone 80% of modern fantasy that is directly based on Tolkien...

It's not that easy to plagiarize something. Having the same story arc or the the same scene beats doesn't fall under it. You can literary go and write the same story with different names in a slightly different setting and that's that. Look at the ton of copycat YA novels. There's an entire industry based on "retelling the same story again". The same is true for a majority of light novels, a lot of movies, etc.


It becomes critical if you copy the scene/sentence structure or steal entire paragraphs with little to no change. But thinking "I liked story X, Y, and Z, so I'll use idea a from X, b from Y, and c from Z isn't really a problem if we talk about legal stuff." The bigger problem is often, that "heavily inspired stories" often lack a coherent theme and jump from one idea to another. Hence, the reader will find stories where each idea is executed better than in your story...

I would recommend to think through which scenes and ideas really fit into the story so that you turn these ideas into your own story.
But that's just something about quality and less about "stealing"...

 

[NotaNuffian]

On that topic from OP, who stated that he was inspired by other books and others accused him of plagerising (which IIRC means that he copied word for word of other works), is using characters from multiple works plagerism? Like for instance, making a harem of Signum (Lyrical Nanoha), Ghislaine (MT) and Sailor Mars (Sailor Moon), retaining their names, personalities but at different setting and all in reverse bunnysuit?

Also, does reusing the same "MC wows old blacksmith" plagerism? The standard "MC walks into a smithy, a blacksmith (old, blind or gal) is unimpressed, then got impressed by MC's skills/ tenacity."

 

[greyblob]

On that topic from OP, who stated that he was inspired by other books and others accused him of plagerising (which IIRC means that he copied word for word of other works), is using characters from multiple works plagerism? Like for instance, making a harem of Signum (Lyrical Nanoha), Ghislaine (MT) and Sailor Mars (Sailor Moon), retaining their names, personalities but at different setting and all in reverse bunnysuit?

Also, does reusing the same "MC wows old blacksmith" plagerism?

only the using already established characters counts as plagiarism. you can just call it fanfiction though

 

[NotaNuffian]

only the using already established characters counts. you can just call it fanfiction though

So if I reskin and rename them?

 

[greyblob]

So if I reskin and rename them?

you're good then

 

[NotaNuffian]

you're good then

That's like stealing a bike and call it yours after a crude paint job.

Nice, then I can take depicts from other OC and say a diff hair and eye color and say "OC content, DON'T STEAL!"

Still, on the topic of encounters, does it count as plagerism if the characters doing the same motion as other established works, like for example, instead of the Elric brothers fucking Tucker up after seeing the chimera, I use an OC as a stand in for the brothers and another for Tucker while Nina with generic bad thing like sodomizing their own one year old?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Nice, then I can take depicts from other OC and say a diff hair and eye color and say "OC content, DON'T STEAL!"

Spoiler: Damn, you learn fast. Keep it up.

 

[greyblob]

That's like stealing a bike and call it yours after a crude paint job.

Nice, then I can take depicts from other OC and say a diff hair and eye color and say "OC content, DON'T STEAL!"

I'm 100% serious. you definitely can. everyone is circlejerking each other.

 

[AliceShiki]

Inspiration is not copyrightable. You are not stealing anything by using it as inspiration.

If you copy-pasted some paragraphs from another novel, then you'd be stealing.
If you made some plotlines 99% the same as some other novel, then it could be argued that you're stealing... But it could also be argued that you're just using Omegaverse tropes, so the person sueing you for plagiarizing their work doesn't really have a case to build up on (Yes, there was a case where this actually happened. The person doing the sueing lost all support as soon as the defending party mentioned that they both were just using standard Omegaverse tropes.).

So no, you're not stealing by being inspired on something.