It sounds like such a generic phrase that I'm not sure you can conclusively prove it was copied in the first place. Like, if I write the line "But no one did" as a fragment sentence in my novel - can other writers come to me and say "HEY! I wrote that line in MY novel first, it's plagiarism!" I don't think so. Now if more than one line - like 2 or 3 are suspiciously similar to the same song, or there're repeated similarities over and over again in the content and/or wording, then yes, it's probably plagiarism. The way you have it is just well, normal writing...? But I know nothing of this so the above is just an opinion. Don't take my word for it
If such short generic lines in different contexts could be considered plagiarism, I don't think we'd have a writing industry because nobody would be able to write anything.
If it doesn't make sense then why do I understand what he means? Language is primarily about communication, not conformity.
You're both right. Maia is right in the sense that the sentence isn't grammatically correct. But since this is a line of dialogue, and we don't know the context of the rest of the conversation, or anything about the character, it may nevertheless work, since, Selbbin, you are right in that we do know what is meant. Very often, we don't speak in a manner that's technically correct -- a good example would be ending sentences with prepositions. That's a big no-no in writing, but in spoken conversation, it happens frequently. And often a part of the character is that he or she doesn't use language correctly.
Yes, but the fact that it's (1) grammatically incorrect and (2) nearly matches a specific song lyric that is grammatically incorrect in the same way, would make me a bit more nervous about the copyright issue than I would be otherwise. The odds of innocently creating the same correct phrase seem higher than the odds of innocently creating the same fairly uncommon error.
I'm writing a fictional script which has similar concepts to the Carlos Castaneda series of books in some places ("The Teachings of Don Juan", Tales of Power, etc.). I'm not sure if this could be considered as plagiarism or copyright infringement or not, especially considering that the Don Juan series often uses concepts from religions and books existing previously to it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
All stories have been told before, it is the way you tell them that is different. If you are not using extracts or quotes from the books there shouldn't be a problem. "Similar concepts" does not sound like plagiarism, to me - but then I'm no lawyer.
i get your point, cf, but since it's not being written as the line of a song, i seriously doubt plagiarism would be an issue there... that said, if there is any doubt in the writer's mind, a literary attorney should be consulted, not members of a writing site, no matter how willing we may be to offer advice on the subject... another fact to consider is that if the work is accepted for publication, the editor assigned to it will most likely ask for a change to be made, if s/he feels it falls into a legal gray area...
I don't see how plagiarism is an issue for all the reasons above, but think about how the line fits with your style of writing. Sometimes "lifted" lines, even if done unconsciously, have kind of a different feel and that makes them stand out--not in a good way, either. I mean, if I wrote that it would look odd because I'd never express myself like that--I'd say: Time will pass even more quickly than you imagine. or something like that. I don't see how I'd be sued for expressing such a common thought, and I've said it many a time before reading your post today.
I am asking out of curosity sake, what with the spat of copyright laws and what not that was done last year. How can one use for example an image in their work if they can't contact the poster of the image. What I am talking about is images from websites. Does one merely reference the website and when it was retrieved such as Figure : Example of a feral dog. Retrieved from website on November 22, 2012. http://icwdm.org/handbook/carnivor/FeralDog.asp Is that enough to cover the "copyright" factor nowadays?
no, it is not... and not enough to cover your rear and be safe from a lawsuit, either... you must have written permission from the copyright holder, unless the work is specifically being offered for others' use free of charge and without needing to ask for permission... if the site doesn't say that it is, you must assume that you must ask for permission...
A friend of mine has told me I risk copyright imfringement because one of the characters in my novel is regularly refered to as The Dr. He say's because the character travels through time and space solving problems combined with being reffered to as the Dr is a little bit to close to a well known tv character. The fact is he is a Dr, so to me it feels right to address him as such especially as the main character has difficulty getting his head round the Dr's christian name. Hence regularly refering to him as the Dr. What are peoples thoughts?
I don't know what tv character you're referencing, so right off the bat I'm not certain it would be an infringement, although if there are other similarities and it is obvious that the character is based on this other famous character, there could be an issue. However, "The Doctor" is a pretty generic term and those are not copyright-able. I don't believe there would be a problem at least in the United States, but you'd want to do some further investigation, because I can't speak to the way things are in Scotland. There may be other specifics in your situation that might make your character so close to the television character that there could be a claim, but just the fact that he's called "the doctor" and he travels through time isn't enough.
"The Doctor" can't be copyrighted because a) it's too generic and b) one can't copyright names (one trademarks them). However, your story does sound a little too close to Dr Who, quite honestly, and while there may not be legal issues (INAL), you would most likely have a hard time getting it published. Even self-publishing it could earn you a less than stellar reputation - ie, rip-off. Does the character have to be a doctor? Changing that could be simple and get rid of most, if not all raised eyebrows.
The tv character i refer to is Dr Who. He travels through time and space sorting out the universes problems and is called the Dr. My character travels through time and space fixing the universes problems and is reffered to as the Dr. My friend reckons because of the similarities combined with being reffered to as the Dr is why it becomes a bit closer than just using the term the Dr. There are no similarity's in personality but they both do almost the same thing albeit in very different styles. Though the tv character has so many incarnations each with different personalies and styles. He reckons it could be said I have written another incarnation of their character.
Yes he has to be a doctor he is a doctor of reality and this fact is important to the story. He is not the main character. The main reason for regular use of the term th Dr is the main character can not get his head around his christian name. The dr in the story mainly does the calculations needed to work out what needs done to iron out the paradoxes that could result in the destruction of reality. Also the calculations of where and when they need to be. The main character Joe actually does the work to fix the problems. The travelling through time and space is done by the crew in the engine rooms. Some of whom are important characters in the story. The story is actually the subtle interplay between Joes mental paradox or possible psychosis and the logical paradox's they all go through in order to prevent the fabric of reality from collapsing. Most of the story is told through Joe who is a councillor and is told through his councilling session and interactions with the Dr, his secretary and the engine room team.
I don't think there's any problem with having a character who happens to be a doctor, who happens to solve problems, who happens to travel through space and time, but I don't think you'll get away with calling him "The Doctor." As others have noted, you may not be able to copyright the term, but "Doctor Who" is an incredibly popular program and people will resist reading something that copies it. I don't think you've helped yourself any by the way you've described it to us--the similarities are so blatant, I was waiting for you to say that your character's mode of transport is a police call box. If your readers are able to make that comparison, so will the BBC's legal team. What can you do? Make stylistic choices that prevent your readers from making that connection. "Doctor Who" is a silly science fiction show with elements of action, drama, and horror. Your story should not be written in that same vein. Watch an episode of the show if you're not familiar with it, and decide if your story is, in fact, too similar.
The only similarities are the ones I have described I think you have answered my question and put my mind at ease. There is no similarity whatsoever in the style. I have been concentrating on the similarities here because they are the worry. My work is far fetched fiction/comedy. It is only the main character who refers to him as the Dr and it is only when reffering to him. When addressing him he uses the Dr's name. If anyone actually reads the content they will find no other similarities other than, I have a character character who happens to be a doctor, who happens to solve problems, who happens to travel through space and time and is sometimes reffered to as the Dr by the main character. This purely because he has difficulty with his christian name and I show this fact quite well throughout the narrative. The dr character couldn't be further from Dr who because my character is an eccentric, sherry swilling, spliff smoking elderly toff who may or may not be using the power of illusion and hypnotism to decieve the main character Joe. They may not travel through space and time it could be a clever ruse played on joe by the Dr and his secretary. The Dr may also not exist and merely be the product of a drug induced psychosis on the part of Joe. This is the eternal paradox of Joe throughout the story.
The only similarities are the ones I have described I think you have answered my question and put my mind at ease. There is no similarity whatsoever in the style. I have been concentrating on the similarities here because they are the worry. My work is far fetched fiction/comedy. It is only the main character who refers to him as the Dr and it is only when reffering to him. When addressing him he uses the Dr's name. If anyone actually reads the content they will find no other similarities other than, I have a character character who happens to be a doctor, who happens to solve problems, who happens to travel through space and time and is sometimes reffered to as the Dr by the main character. This purely because he has difficulty with his christian name and I show this fact quite well throughout the narrative. The dr character couldn't be further from Dr who because my character is an eccentric, sherry swilling, spliff smoking elderly toff who may or may not be using the power of illusion and hypnotism to decieve the main character Joe. They may not travel through space and time it could be a clever ruse played on joe by the Dr and his secretary. The Dr may also not exist and merely be the product of a drug induced psychosis on the part of Joe. This is the eternal paradox of Joe throughout the story.
here are Two examples showing Joes confusion that leads to refering to him as the Dr. I just thought god these guy’s are nuts one insists his first name is Mr and the other changes his every time you leave the room and it seems to always begin with D, at least it’s entertaining. Not to mention the free beer and pot. “ my eye test" I reminded him. “ah yes, care for a sherry Joe before we start" “don’t mind if I do er Mr....." “do call me Mr Darman if it’s easier I’ve noticed it’s quite difficult for people round these parts to get their heads round the idea of someone being called Mr" I decided to humour him further “no I’m sure I can cope with calling you Mr if that’s your name" “quite what’s existence without a name eh?" and on that enigmatic note he poured 2 sherries into as many glasses. Marked it on his ration sheet then passed one to me and drank from the other.
Still sounds too close for comfort. Couldn't you call him The Professor? Or just Proff.? I think you're really on a sticky wicket.
i agree... and you'll have to learn how to write dialog properly, too... sentences of dialog must be capitalized, for one thing...
