posted
Before I start re-writing my story I need to find something out. Where is the line between "borrowing" and "plagarism"?
In short, I want to incorporate the general themes of Rollerball into my story. Things like having a few guys sandboarding at the beginning, a friend telling the main character about a hot new sport that pays lots of dough (StarSurfing), and the game turning out to be rigged once the owners of the game realize that ratings etc. go up when people get hurt.
I'd simply be borrowing general themes from Rollerball and incorporating them into my plotline.
And I figure that there are so many stories that are the same thing that have been told in many different ways.
But I want to start writing tonight, and I wanted to check to make sure it's legal before I began writing.
Posts: 1934 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
Are you going for irony? No problem- you might have to split a few royalties, but what the heck.
Who's going to quibble - just look at D&D - do you suppose Tolkien had anything to say about that? Of course, he was dead when that came out and had already been jipped for royalties on his series but hey -
Seriously - I think the standard is that as long as you don't directly "quote" you should be okay - but you might pop over to the Writer's Workshop and ask there - if nothing else, the mod will be able to answer your question.
posted
There's really nothing new under the sun. I was telling a fellow ex-navy friend about an idea I had for a story that takes place on a ship. He listened, then said "sounds a lot like Polar Star". Having never heard of it, I tracked down the book, read it, and danged if there weren't at least 5 main plot points that were EXACTLY the same as my story idea. There were a lot of differences, but the similarities were just too blatant to ignore. So much for that idea.
I'd recommend reading "Unaccompanied Sonata" by OSC (of course you already have. Read it again). And "Who's Cribbing" by Jack Lewis. If you have an original idea that stands on its own, it doesn't matter if it reminds the reader of something else. I've read a lot of books and seen a lot of movies where I thought "wow, this is a great premise" and then halfway into it they completely blow it.
posted
Yeah, don't sweat copying overarching plotlines. For example:
Overarching Chick-Flick Plotlines:
Girl from a "respectable" family falls for a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, and despite her engagement to a rich, arrogant jerk, still decides to be with the poor guy. (Titianic, George of the Jungle, Alladin)
Overarching action movie Plotline:
Someone is doing something very bad, but only the hero really aknowledges it. Everyone else in the entire world acts like idiots and refuses to believe them, even when it's real obvious what's going on, and finally the hero saves the day by actually confronting the problem. (Any movie that includes the line, "You have to believe me!")
Overarching kid sports movie Plotline:
A bunch of kids who are either attractive or funny but nevertheless unpopular are pulled together as a team by an unlikely coach and they win "The Big Game." (Mighty Ducks, Big Green, Little Giants)
And while we're at it:
Overarchng Star Trek: The Next Generation plotline:
Something horrible is happening. It is very pretty on the viewscreen of the bridge. They stare at it for 50 minutes, minus commericals. Finally, the captian tells somebody to do something that involves complex technobabble. The pretty thing goes away, and everybody has a drink and laughs at either the robot or the Klingon.
Posts: 1894 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote: a hot new sport that pays lots of dough (StarSurfing), and the game turning out to be rigged once the owners of the game realize that ratings etc. go up when people get hurt.
I think that was a popular theme in 60s and 70s sci-fi. IIRC Robert Sheckley had at least one short story with this theme? And others. Don't worry about it. Just try to add clever or original elements to the story. But if it becomes a $100 million screenplay expect everybody and their dog to want a piece of the action.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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