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Inspired by other people's stories - where do you draw the line?


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OK, so writing something vaguely inspired by someone else's story is obviously fine. Wholesale stealing a story and passing it off as your own is obviously not. But where is the line between those two extremes?

Is it OK to repost someone else's story with slight editing (eg fixing up grammar, improving the flow of the narrative, etc) while making it clear that they wrote the story and you just edited it?

Is it OK to write a sequel to someone else's story, or rewrite it from a different character's perspective, while giving them credit? Does it matter if you use the same characters or new characters in the same world?

Is it OK to basically copy the plot synopsis and rewrite the entire story yourself? Should you give credit for that? Does it matter if you change names and other character details? (eg turning an m/f story into an m/m story?)

What do you guys think? I've been thinking of writing some stuff inspired by some of the stories in the DailyDiapers story list (outside of the forum) but I don't want to step on anyone's toes, so I'd like to know what's acceptable.

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When I'm intrigued by a given plot line and inspired to do my own take, I get in touch with the original author, present my idea, and ask if it's cool that I do it.  Usually it's not an issue.

For example, my piece "The Pariah" was inspired by ishigreensa's "Yukari" - and the two pieces diverged dramatically from one another in terms of plot concept.  He liked my spin on it.  So it worked out well.

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For closely working off an existing work, it's always best to have the author's permission if you can.  Now, if the story is like 20 years old, the author hasn't been posting or been seen around in those 20 years, then I'd say it would be okay to do take that story, make a clear note that Author X wrote the story, and you're just continuing it, cleaning it up, etc.  Current authors with current works might not be too thrilled with someone just taking their story and rewriting/ continuing it, etc.  I know of one author who wrote a popular story, and a few years later they caught someone writing a sequel to that story.  Author was not amused- they contacted the site the sequel was on and asked it to be taken down, since the author had not given permission for their work to be messed with. 

So, in a nutshell, is it okay?  Sure, it's okay if you can get author's permission (or if it's a very old work and author has been long gone from the diaper scene)

 

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I'm gonna have to agree with Cute_Kitten on this one. As a writer myself, one who has had his work copied without my permission, it's pretty much common courtesy to ask the author for permission. I've also had people claim my work as their own, so I'm very protective of my work. 

Think of all the hard work someone puts into making a story. Now imagine someone taking that and just changing some of the basics around, such as characters, or re-wording things they didn't like. I'd be pretty darn upset if someone did that to my work. Those are my characters in a world that I created and shared with the public. They were presented that way for a reason. 

I say err on the side of caution, and just double-check first. 

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4 minutes ago, DKN117 said:

What if the original author is either deceased, or has seemingly dropped off the face of the Internet?

 

3 hours ago, Cute_Kitten said:

  Now, if the story is like 20 years old, the author hasn't been posting or been seen around in those 20 years, then I'd say it would be okay to do take that story, make a clear note that Author X wrote the story, and you're just continuing it, cleaning it up, etc.

 

?  I already gave my take on that.  If the author is unable to be contacted and is no longer active on the internet, then ...well...there is no way to get permission from them, and they're not around to get upset at having their work used.  So the best action would be to make a note at the beginning of the story giving credit to the original author for the work they did. 

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Various people have differing opinions on fanfic, which is what 'inspired by' stories are. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If you can ask someone if they are okay with you writing fanfic, that is always good.

When you get into taking an author's story and changing things around and posting it, I'd say don't. But that's my opinion, so YMMV. As for how different... let's say you took Oliver Twist and then rewrote it, maybe from Nancy's perspective or something. If you could then do a find/replace on every character name and place name that came from Oliver Twist and at that point no one would be able to realize it was based on Oliver Twist... then you got something significantly different that I would say you don't need to worry about asking permission of Dickens.

EDIT: On the other hand taking Oliver Twist and rewriting it as a modern tale with diaper content cleaves closer to fanfic.

Sequels, I mean, if the original author wanted a sequel, they would have probably wrote one. Maybe they are in the process of writing one and an 'unauthorized' sequel makes them give up on it. Again, does not hurt to ask for permission if you can get it. 

As for 'they have not been heard from for 20 years and can I repost their story and maybe fix up their grammar' well, the first question I would ask is if their story is still available. If it is then do you really need to repost it? Why not just provide a link? And I would ask myself 'am I posting this because I think it is great and I want people to see it, or am I posting it to maybe steal a bit of the author's fire cause even if I put 'Originally Written by....' my name is still going to be on the first post'.

 

My two cents.

 

 

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As an experienced fanfiction author and as someone that has written hundreds of thousands of words) I can say that like the other people have already said. First, you try and get into touch with the author itself. If that fails, you write in a disclaimer that says something along the lines of 'this story was inspired by this story by this author. If you are the author or you know the author, contact me if you want me to remove the story.

Something like that is usually more than enough to appease most authors. Granted, you got jerks that accuse someone just for borrowing the general idea. Because here's some news for you: fanfic plots are so overused that original plots are next to impossible. And cliché plots are cliché because they worked and because people liked them.

Anyway, there are two ways of being inspired. First, you can use the general plot line of the story but do your own thing. If that's the case, you don't owe anyone to remove the story, since it's just inspired by another story.

However, if you directly copy paste a chapter/story/paragraphs/content then it's something else. Depending on how much you use. If you only want to use the first chapter and go into a completely different direction after that AND you made sure to give credit? Then it should be fine. However, if you want to use an ENTIRE story, and want to write a sequel to it... Then don't post the original story as yours, but make sure to clearly point it out that your story is a sequel to a story but that you haven't written the first. That it is an 'unofficial' sequel.

As to drawing a line... Don't copy paste a story directly and just leave it at that. Let's say you have a story you love. Let's say that this theoretical story has twenty chapters of ten thousand words each. That's two hundred thousand words total. Let's say you have an idea, but it changes direction starting from chapter eleven.

Then do NOT post the first ten chapters WITHOUT having written a significant amount first. That's where I draw the line. If you re-post a story's first ten chapters and you DON'T continue it within say... a week. Then people will rightfully think you stole the story. Even if you say you want to take it into a different direction. Even if you promise to update soon.

Do not change a few words here and there and call it a day if you don't have a significant amount written already.

Do not claim that you fixing the story makes it different enough. Do not do that without permission.

The only exception is that if the story is really old and if the author hasn't posted something in YEARS, then maybe, just MAYBE an exception could be made. (fixing spelling and / or grammar mistakes) because nobody is perfect and even you can make mistakes. Also, by changing a few sentences here and there and by fixing grammar and spelling irregularly, you may be forced to change other things to reflect those changes and that can ultimately result in a completely different story. Trust me, I know.

See, when I write a story and I really get going, I usually end up around... Five to seven thousand words. But that's just a first version. I go over it, begin improving, fixing and correcting mistakes I make, but those changes (if they are significant) force me to edit the rest as well. By the time I'm done, I have often doubled my word count and then I do it for a third time. I repeat doing this until I can get to the end without having an 'eureka' moment. Anyway, my point in explaining this is that if you want to use a person's story, you can end up doing the same thing. Also, you and the other person have a different way of thinking and of writing. So it may lose it's original.... Quality?

 

Anyway, I hope that helped ?

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  • 1 month later...

I've written many stories and posted nearly all of them. Sometimes they wind up in google searches on many other websites I've never heard of. Generally, they are attributed to me. I've yet to see anyone take credit for them.

As for a story that is materially similar or based in the same world of one of mine, contacted or not, I'm not too worried about it. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If I created a story so compelling, so engrossing, that it inspired someone to write a story in the same vein, I'd be honored. I might even be moved to bless it given the opportunity.

When all is said and done, I'm not in competition with anyone but myself. I write for the thrill of seeing an idea come to life in the text that I breathed life into, that's why I write.

The edge cases of outright theft or deceased/abandoned author are largely pretty cut and dried.

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