: Re: Should I worry that my storyline is very similar to another? I've written a story about anthropomorphic animals in a noirish setting solving murders. I came up with the concept and wrote the

@Sims2267584

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It is very common for writers to come up with similar ideas—sometimes extraordinarily similar. In some cases, it comes about from two writers being influenced by the same previous works. I remember, when X-Files was popular, quite a few people independently came up with TV series ideas that were basically "X-Files for kids". Other times, the connections are less obvious, but the idea just seems to be "in the air" somehow. Perhaps the sight of a generation staring at screens has spawned the current interest in zombie stories.

In any case, there's a fine line between one writer being influence by another (which is OK) and a writer plagiarizing another (which is not).

Although plagiarism of ideas (versus exact words) is explicitly not covered by copyright laws, that doesn't mean people can copy ideas with impunity. This kind of sleazy idea theft has been the basis of some very expensive lawsuits. In your case, since you didn't copy the other work, and your work is not similar to it in tone, I don't think you have much to worry about. A film noir animal murder mystery is unusual but not unique. The same idea underlies the comic book Blacksad, and Who Killed Roger Rabbit? It's a niche genre.

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