On Theft and Inspiration.

Who ordered gale-force winds and a monsoon?? It wasn't me. I ordered sunshine. What a first day back to work that was. Couldn't do a flamin' thing because of the weather!!

First - a little message from author Robbi McCoy as posted on her Facebook page.

To the selfish, misguided jerks who keep illegally uploading my and my fellow authors' books to download sites, if you think you're dealing with large, indifferent corporations here, you are sorely mistaken. You are dealing with a small, close-knit group of resourceful lesbians and at least one super pissed-off bitch who will hunt you down and gut you like a fish! Down with the pirates in 2012!

You have been warned. *g*

On to Joan's ramble... Don't worry Joan. Not gonna hunt you down.

But - stealing is bad. Stealing is never good. Stealing can never be justified, It may - in certain circumstances - be understood, it may be forgiven, it may be excused, but it is never right.

The idea re-use thing you were talking about is not stealing, it's not the same thing at all as piracy or plagiarism either. For very good reasons.

There are no totally original ideas. Even Shakespeare borrowed chunks of plot. Checking someone's storyline and re-writing it to fit your own ideas, with your own words, using common themes, is not theft. Especially if the works you're echoing are in the public domain. As long as you do not take and use unaltered any unique concepts or copy directly the words of the original.

No - as long as the world and the words are your original work, the plot is not unique, and the source is public domain, and you give due credit to it, then it's inspiration, not theft.

After all... movies such as West Side Story; Ten Things I Hate About You; Clueless; couldn't exist without that happening. And is there a long-running TV series in the USA that hasn't used It's A Wonderful Life as the basis for an episode or two??

Downloading newly-published books for which you have not paid, and for which do not intend to pay, but know you should pay, is without question - theft.

Ze

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