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

[niekebieke.livejournal.com]

Second Part when should you disclaim?

Ok, that is a lot harder to answer. But I pretty much agree with what most of the other commenters said. You don’t need to disclaim if you are using things that are considered general Fanon, but if you are inspired by something pretty specific and quite original you should definitely credit the original creator.

Take two very recognisable ideas. Both (blood)wards and veela’s are canon creations, but while they were rather minor parts of the canon world they have gone on to lead a life of their own in Fanon. Both are what is considered essential part of fanon and if you are just using general Fanon lore then I don’t see the need for disclaimers. But if you use or are inspired by someone’s very specific and original take on these typical Fanon creations, then an AN is definitely required.

First example: Veela
If you are inspired by a veela story that pretty much only uses what are by now considered fanon veela characteristics and plot developments – the wings, the mate, the MPreg, the super strength, …, then you should go and write your fic / draw your art – because there can never be too much veela !!! – and not be at all bother about disclaiming etc.

If on the other hand you read for example RomaFics’ The Survival of the Species and found her portrayal of the Veela inspiring and want to build further on her creation you should definitely mention her in you’re AN. Since she took typical Fanon and made it her own.

Second example: (Blood)wards
Wards are another thing that has expanded in Fanon, there are tons of fics out there that play with wards but leave the specifics to it all quite vague. So if you read such a fic and are inspired to write another run-of-the-mill wards story or all of a sudden such a story inspires you to delve deeper and create your own lore around wards then I don’t see the need to disclaim. But if for example you are inspired by Lomonaaeren’s Hephaestus then a thank you and a link to her story is definitely a must. Since she must have put a lot of effort into coming up with all those rules and ideas.


So I think just using your common sense and sense of common etiquette is the most logical rule to follow and if you are not sure I would add an AN mention your inspiration anyway. It is always best to ere on the more cautious side.

Sorry for the long ramble, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything else until I had posted this

xxx

PS I couldn't add the URL's for the fics, because then my comment got screened. But they are fandom fav., so you have probably read them anyway.

[wantsunicorns.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure whether you read up on the other replies or not, but the thing that had me ask this question has been resolved completely and wasn't even an issue at that. I still appreciate that you took the time to write such a well thought out answer.

The responses I've been getting were all very interesting and yours is not exception.

I've actually handled it like "if I use something I know I got from somewhere else, I credit that in the author's notes". I used a spell I had found in someone's story once for instance, it wasn't the major part of the fic, but it came in really handy and just fit right in, so I simply credited the person where I knew I had seen this spell for the first time. I was just wondering whether doing that was enough in general or whether the modus operandi should be to ask permission.

I have read neither of stories, since I've been out of fandom for ages, before getting back into it last February, hence I have no idea what either of those are about. (*lol* I also wasn't aware that Veelas were supposed to be super strong XD)

As for "art", I've had someone steal some icons I made from screencaps I made myself and them claim them as their own, which was just shitty, they even hotlinked my images, which of course meant I took the time to replace them with pictures that showed rude things and words ;) revenge can be oh so sweet. Safe to say they disappeared pretty quickly after that.

But as you said, common sense and common courtesy should be things to go by and if it's a specific idea (which I thought in my case it was, althought the author said it was a sort of general idea and I was welcome to use it either way) to go ask permission and otherwise, just credit what inspired me.

I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me. It was definitely an insightful read!

[niekebieke.livejournal.com]

I had skimmed through the other replies. I'm not actually a fanwork dreator, just someone who enjoys reading and looking at fanart and I have to shamefully admit that I'm 3/4 lurker and only 1/4 active commenter, reccer, etc. But sometimes a post grabs me and won't leave me alone and I just need to get my thoughts on paper. So I wrote it all down in a word doc, despite the issue already having been resolved. But then it felt a bit silly to not actually post it, so hence the long and totally belated ramble ...

If I did write fanfic and I was confronted with your situation I would also have just given credit in the AN and handled the situation like you did.

That sucks about your icons and i totally get why revenge would taste super sweet in such a situation :)!!!. I found my icon through google and haven't got a clue who made it. I'm not so techno savy and if the "find similar items" button doesn't yield the answer, I don't have a clue how to go about finding it. But it was just too cute to ignore. But if a person is hotlinking your icons, then there is no way they couldn't know where they came from and who made them. So yes, that is just plain stealing.

Veela have got to be superstrong with the amount of wall sex and the randomly picking Harry up that goes on in veela!fics. I mean Harry is quite a tiny and def. not a hulk like character, but he is still a grown man!!! Oh and both those fics are great, they take rather cliche topics and really do something special with it. Both are bottom!Draco, and while I tend to lean more to bottom!Harry I really thought bottom!draco fit well here and it was my kind of bottom - so not effeminate or anything. And if you want to read some fics you missed in your hiatus I really think these are worth your time.

I'm going to try and write down the URL without the dot's, maybe then the comment will not be screened:
http://www (dot)fanfiction (dot) net/s/4636482/1/Hephaestus
http://roma-fics (dot)livejournal (dot) com/tag/survival%20of%20the%20species