Plagiarism, credit etc.

[wantsunicorns.livejournal.com]

I've asked if it's okay to post this and got the okay, so here goes:

I know we all get inspired by the things we read or watch or listen to, be it books, films or songs. How do you deal with that, if you get inspired by other people's fic?

As an author:

• Do you think it's alright if other people reuse an idea you had?
  (like a spell, a gadget, a magical ability, magical theory etc.)
• Do you think it's necessary to be credited in the author's notes, if they used your idea?
  (as in, the part where "..." got inspired by "so and so")
• Would you like to be asked, before someone uses something of yours?
  (like, send a pm, or email asking whether it's alright, e.g. detailing what want to use it for)

What are your thoughts on this?

I personally am a bit undecided. I would love it, if people asked me permission, simply because I think it would be lovely to know that someone else got inspired by something I created. I would however not hold people to this. What I think would be common curtesy though would be to credit the creator of a work in the author's notes with something like "the idea for "..." comes from "author's name"" or something similar, if one was so inclined one could also link to the fic the idea was inspired/taken from.

I'm fairly new to stuff like this, so I don't know what's considered the right approach to this, so I figured I might as well ask my go-to-people in such matters, i.e. ALL OF YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE! ♥

PS: I'm sorry mods, I don't know how to tag this.

ETA: Thank you so much for everyone who has shared their opinion on this with me. I've definitely received some food for thought. ♥

Comments

[wantsunicorns.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of a remix. I'm not sure I could do it myself, but looking at it that way is wonderful!

I think I get what you mean about having the same premise and then seeing a similar fic and being all "eeeeh, can I post mine now?" I think the answer should always be yes, because just because two people had the idea, doesn't mean one shouldn't be shared.

I've decided to go and ask, if I do remember where something is from and then credit them in the author's notes. I'd rather be over cautious than get called out for plagiarising someone's idea, when I didn't mean to.

[tryslora]

I like the idea of remixes too, although I haven't done one yet and have never been remixed. I'm not sure I'd be able to do it well.

Go you!! I think that's the best decision, and I hope the writer is amenable to what you'd like to do!