I don't know, when I was researching "fair use" around including three verses of a song to use in "The Kentauride," what I encountered did not disagree that much with the text above. I tried to get permission to use the words, but the artist and/or production company never responded to my queries. Did you watch the TED talk video: www.deviantart.com/users/outgo… ?
You were talking about actually copying, though - using the exact words of the text - and you went about it fairly and rightly. She accuses J.K. Rowling and others, however, of stealing for not crediting their sources, when in reality they did not draw parallels closely enough to warrant credit.
Did you read her links? One of them is to a complete thesis that exams step by step every point Rowling took from Tolkien. The point is, nothing is really truly original, everything can be traced back to the seven Greek plays; the difference between theft and plagiarism is that the later is more evident. Even the quote below has been used in various forms by Shakespere, de la Montagne, Picasso, Hemmingway, and Warhol. Steve Jobs used it in an interview in 1996.
"Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal." - T. S. Eliot
Did you read that thesis? It isn't accusing her of plagiarism and it doesn't set out to prove that she plagiarised. It ends with this: "However, an inferior writer simply copies, whereas a good writer puts a fresh slant on a familiar subject. Rowling is definitely a superior writer. Her Pensieve, for instance, can be seen as an ingenious way of building upon the Mirror of Galadriel. We can appreciate how effectively--or even amusingly in the case of Butterbur and butterbeer--Rowling appears to have borrowed some of Tolkien’s ideas and names but altered them to suit her tale."
What Rowling did was not plagiarism. She hasn't plagiarised Tolkien. She might have been inspired by his works, she might reference or pay homage to them, but that's all perfectly fine and legal. Tolkien's works are still copyrighted, so plagiarising them would be copyright infringement, so the Tolkine estate would have sued her for it had she plagiarised his work. But she didn't. Inspiration, references, quotations, analogues, homages, etc, are not plagiarism.
And the "quote" you're talking about, which has been used in various forms by various authors, is an idea which different people have put into different words. It's like a metaphor or a common expression; using those, putting them into new words, etc, isn't plagiarism either. Besides, quoting other people isn't plagiarism.
I'm afraid you've lost me, when did I say anything about Rowling plagiarizing anyone? I, as the author of the thesis points out, said she did what most great artists do: she stole Tolkien's ideas, and improved upon them. This is how it works, and as I pointed out in my earlier post (which I realize now you completely misunderstood; I apologize for that, I will try to be clearer in the future) is pretty much how all greats have done it, Shakespeare, Picasso, Jobs, etc.
I remember having this discussion with former Baen author Holly Lisle, when I was first trying to figure out how to find a publisher (after Baen died), and the topic of "not wanting to have them steal my idea" came up. Holly said that the ideas were nothing, it's the work of the author to turn those ideas into words. She also likes to say that, if you are lacking ideas to write a book, she would sell you one hundred ideas for one dollar, and she'd consider having come out on top. So don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything wrong with an author stealing ideas from another author and using them in their own works; I only think it's wrong to deny that you're doing it.
“If an artist may say nothing except what he has invented by his own sole efforts, it stands to reason he will be poor in ideas. If he could take what he wants wherever he could find it, as Euripides and Dante and Michelangelo and Shakespeare and Bach were free, his larder would always be full, and his cookery might be worth tasting." - R G Collingwood
“If you have one person you’re influenced by, everyone will say you’re the next whoever. But if you rip off a hundred people, everyone will say you’re so original!” - Gary Panter
I don't think anyone's denying that they're doing it, though? And the plagiarism thing comes from the original journal, which accuses Rowling of plagiarising Tolkien amongst other things. I read your comment as defending this; sorry if that wasn't the case.
I'm not sure I'd even call it stealing, though, to be honest. Taking inspiration from something isn't the same as stealing. And since ideas can't be owned, I'm not sure they can be stolen at all. But I do agree that whatever you call the practice - stealing, taking inspiration, borrowing, etc - is perfectly valid and legal and normal. BUT, the OP confuses that with plagiarism, which isn't okay, and uses it to justify art theft etc, which also isn't okay.
You are correct, it was my mistake originally, and for this I must apologize. When I first read the journal, I read the links and never went back to reread the journal, not realizing that the author was contradicting her own references. I have pneumonia and probably shouldn't be having such debates at this time.
As to the word "stealing," it is not mine, I stole it from de la Montagne, Elliot, Hemingway, Twain, Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jack Kirby, Steve Jobs, and a host of other people I often quote. I define it as "borrowing an idea or concept without giving the source due credit," and unfortunately it's being encouraged by the crazy litigation tendencies of the last couple of decades. I do agree with you though, when we share ideas, we are all richer for it, an idea I got from GB Shaw.
"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." - George Bernard Shaw