: Re: I'm afraid of [accidental] plagiarism I've recently written a screenplay about an alien invasion. A friend immediately commented that he found similarities (some general ideas, plot devices) with

Basically ideas are not "copyrightable," on the expression of ideas is. Even if an idea is repeated, you're not guilty of plagiarism if your presentation is different.

At a tender age, I started constructing a "Sound of Music" knockoff set in France, featuring a prominent family, and a governess for the "six" children in the shadow of World War II. (Prominent families, governesses, and children are recurring themes in literature.) I was afraid of plagiarizing, but needn't have been, because the "dialog" I produced was neither French nor Sound of Music-like but just "American." In the end, I had the governess marry "Uncle Charles" (not the father), not exactly an original twist, after spending World War II with the Maquis guerrillas (this might actually represent a contribution to literature).

So to answer your question, you won't get sued for following a cut and dried "pattern" that "everyone" has seen before. Just make sure that you are writing with your own "voice," (which, like fingerprints, are distinctive). You probably won't even get sued for inadvertent "copying" if it is limited, accidental, and not a pattern. Real plagiarists fall into a certain "mold." Just make sure that you don't.

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: Re: I'm afraid of [accidental] plagiarism I've recently written a screenplay about an alien invasion. A friend immediately commented that he found similarities (some general ideas, plot devices) with

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: How does one determine how much of a song you can use without paying? In the movie, "The Perez Family," there was a scene that featured the band playing something like two lines of the song

: Adding to @Philipp 's answer: Know your plot and the consequences: If you describe the scene from POV of the victim, who provoked the action, you need a reason why she provoked it. If

: Proper way to punctuate an abrupt stopping of speech? I'd like to properly punctuate one of my characters being stopped in speech, followed by a sentence that explains that the character didn't

: Pieces missing from my narrative I have this (IMHO) cool idea for a general storyline I want to write about, and one or two ideas for characters. However, I'm really struggling to go about

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