: Re: Would it be plagiarism if you use a changed scene? If I read someone else's scene that describes a situation in my own work if adapted to fit my characters and plot, would it constitute plagiarism

@Heady158

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You should decide if you're worried about plagiarism or copyright infringement. The first is an ethical concept, the second a legal one. In copyright, you are protecting your rights to the expression of an idea; you can't copyright the idea itself. So I can write a sci-fi story about a rebellious group of pseudo-druidic soldiers taking arms against an evil empire without George Lucas breathing down my neck. I start naming characters Luke and Leia and I'm going to run into trouble.

Plagiarism is an ethical concept, so the boundaries are squishier. Basically, if you think it's plagiarism and can make a decent argument, it's possibly true to a degree, even if that degree is vanishingly small. "My God, your zombie/robot novel has characters! And they do stuff? That's obviously stolen from Agatha Christie!" Unless it's actually copyright infringement, there's also nothing anyone can do about it legally. The only harm will be to your reputation.

Take the Hunger Games / Battle Royale dust-up. Both stories are differing expressions of a similar idea. Even the accusation harmed Suzanne Collins' reputation, but there wasn't a legal redress.

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