Re: [epub] Digest Number 211

[Mydenise@xxxxxxx]

From: Mydenise@aol.com

Hi, Everyone!

<<Sam, Acting in the Role of Devil's Advocate Responds Thusly:

Is not imitation, the sincerest form of flattery??
>>

I would just like to add a different "devil advocate's" viewpoint that, to 
me, makes this whole question a gray area - ie., where does one draw the line 
between what is general/shared  knowledge and what is outright "intellectual 
theivery".

I don't know about you but I can not think of a single so-called "expert" who 
has come up with 100% totally new wisdom, truths or insights about a 
particular topic.  Just take a look in the bookstore.  I guarantee you every 
single book in there had its roots from someone else's wisdom (which also was 
not totally original).  How many "Chicken Soups for the (you fill in the 
blank) Soul" are there?  Or how many  "(Fill in the blank) for Dummies"?  
Etc.  Or pick up any book about time management or goal-setting, etc. ... 
they all say the same thing (just different words).

I don't believe anyone of us comes up with totally new material (except for 
our own personal stories and even those will always have a common theme or 
thread on some level).  We all absorb and integrate info. from many different 
sources and maybe give it a different twist (which is  what innovation is) 
and then pass it on as our own original ideas (which it is partly and, at the 
same time, isn't) 

I agree if someone has lifted your words or phrases, etc. which you have 
coined, in their articles, then we are talking about a form of plagarism.  
And yes, I agree, that some acknowlegment needs to be given in those cases.  
The question is, when it is more an issue of similiar concepts, etc., where 
do you draw the line on who gets the credit?

When I was a professional speaker (which is a field also prone to outright 
"theft" of material), one of the codes of ethics was "Adapt, not adopt".  So 
the question is, are these people adapting or adopting what you have 
produced?  I don't have the answers, just the questions.  To me, it is not a 
black and white issue.

Just my 25 cents (cost of living is higher in Calif. :)).

Denise

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