# Copyright Question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-question/711031>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 27, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-question/711031 "2015-01-27T18:06:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 15

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-question/711031/15 "2015-01-28T17:43:26Z")

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> [@AdamF](#):
>
> The way I look at it, the derivative works share only the basic idea of the original work

This may be where you’re going wrong; and you may be committing the same fallacy—overvaluing the “basic idea” in a creative work—that has been discussed before in threads like [this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=14265):

> [@You've got a story idea, but you can't write....](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youve-got-a-story-idea-but-you-cant-write/9424/3):
>
> Most authors can’t go to a party without someone coming up to them and saying “I got this great idea for a book. Why don’t you write it and we’ll split the profits?” Polite writers say “No, thanks.” Impolite writers laugh.
> 
> Many people think the idea for a story is the most important part. It’s not. Anyone can come up with an idea that could make a good story, but the matter of execution is something else entirely. A writer has no trouble coming up with ideas and doesn’t need help. It’s the writing skill that turns the idea into a story, and the idea is only about 2% of that.

Derivative works (including translations to different languages, adaptations to other media, and stories that share the same characters and setting) copy a _lot_ more than just “the basic idea.”

The following thread may also be relevant here: [What constitutes plagiarism?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=697818)

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