So I haven't said anything before.

[erastes]

theregoesyamum has done a great post on plagiarism. She has more right to be posting about it as she's been plagiarised, and as far as I know, I - either as underlucius or erastes- have not been. But I'd been mulling over the issue over the last 24 hours, and am wondering why I get so hot under the collar thinking about it. I know it was "years ago" but I only heard about yesterday. And the plagiarised fics are still online (albiet briefly apparently, be thankful for small mercies).

Fanfic is a fun hobby. So if it's a hobby and no-one can make any money from it, what's the big deal about making a Fuss if someone nicks your words? It's a compliment, surely?

No. It's not. Writing fanfic (IMO) is a compliment. Some writers don't agree, but personally I can't think of anything more squeeful than having fanfic. It's a gift to the writer that his/her characters have made an impression, have filtered into the subconcious. The only problem that I personally can see with it, is that if a ficcer were to write something that was already in the writer's mind for a sequel, it would squash that sequel pretty flat.

I would think that anyone writing would be striving to improve. Just for their own peace of mind, no matter if they were going to stay in fandom writing for ever, or move on to the cold world of original writing. If you are using other's work, even if it's "only a line here and there" then you aren't improving. It's like secret eating (and believe me, I know of what I speak in that regard) you are fooling no-one but your self, and eventually your transgressions WILL find you out and your ability to be believed is severely compromised.

Do I believe her original fic is truly original? No. I don't. It might be. But she's plagiarised once and got away with it hugely.

I guess it's like... I've tried various styles as writing exercises. I explored that on hp_literotica. But I don't want to write like Harper or Dickens or eudaimon or spessartine. I wish I WERE them so I could write like that - but I want to write like me. The greatest thrill in a fic-fest was, for me, to have someone say "Oh, this is underlucius"

And you can't have your own style if you are nicking it from other people.

I think what makes me laugh hardest about this whole thing more than anything else is that Cassie Claire says that "No-one is to write any Secret Diaries." I mean... WTF? No patische of the patische? Come on CC - play fair. You can't have it both ways. You can't even stop people patisching original books (see Barry Trotter, Parry Hotter, Bored of the Rings, etc etc etc) What are you going to do? Cease and Desist orders? *dies laughing*


In other news, yet another agent rejection. "Not quite what I'm looking for"

TV-wise, I am officially blissed out. Film Four is running a series of Studio Ghibli films. Today: Princess Mononoke. I've been wanting to see this film for ages.

Comments

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know that. My point was that she has no right to say "THESE ARE MINE YOU CAN'T USE THEM" unless of course she plans to publish them, and in which case they need to be off the net.

[bloodrebel333.livejournal.com]

She can't even publish them. I mean - if she changes the names of the characters and the settings, the quality still isn't good enough to be published. And if she does rewrite the whole thing, it wouldn't become a success because it's a total Bridget Jones ripoff.

So, yeah, wtf is up with that. But yeah - Cassie's a ridiculous girl. So.