So Serious Saturday #9

Fiction needs a basis in reality. Exercising non-fiction muscles once in a while benefits an active imagination, channeling creative energies as it focuses on a subject. So Serious Saturdays will be an active place for critical essays or writing about reality in the context of real events - even when it is not written on Saturdays.

Type: Persuasive Commentary

Threat Posed to The Largest Form of Flattery

Writing what you know: good thing or bad thing or neutral thing?

We all get influenced by what is around us; what we read, see, and hear becomes a part of us. Going to the park inspires a poem, an old song becomes a new song in our hearts -- sappy, but true. Van Gogh was inspired by some of his contemporaries. Novelist J.D. Salinger was inspired in part by Scottish poet Robert Burns. There are literally millions of other examples and cross-references in literature, poetry, art, and music.

The question is "How much credit does the inspiration for a new work receive for the new work?" Specifically, is the Blurred Lines copyright decision a dangerous precedent for all creative work after it?



Was Dred Scott v. Sandford a dangerous precedent? Yes, that decision contributed to the general unrest leading up to the American Civil War of the 1860's.

Was Obamacare a good idea? Well, the jury's still out on that one. It really also depends who you are: it could not affect you if you have excellent healthcare or no healthcare, but if you are already struggling to pay your bills the mandatory healthcare can really screw your finances.

How about this: is fan fiction a legitimate way to make money?  Legitimate or not, Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James got a seven-figure deal, according to Business Insider.com. The popular erotic series began as fan fiction based on characters from the Twilight books. Business Insider goes on to say that Stephanie Meyer isn't making waves about James' success and that there is a mixed reaction from supporters of fan fiction.

So on one front of the creative chaos a fan fiction is making mega bucks without the "source" author making a fuss. On the other, Marvin Gaye's family is feuding over the profits of a successful lawsuit against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke.  What this really boils down to is an author allowing her work to be admired and mimicked, and a family upset that their loved one is not making money anymore; one creative who understands the nature of the creative cycle, of birth and rebirth, of reinterpretation of old themes, and the relatives of another creative who do not understand, or who chose to overlook, the perpetual borrowing of an aspect of one source in a new creation.

How does one acknowledge one's inspirations for a work of art? Perhaps introducing the work first as fan fiction, as E.L. James did with Fifty Shades. Maybe allowing oneself to be grouped in a certain category, such as "Impressionist" or "Neo-classical", "romance" or "action". It could be written or vocal, subtle or overt.

Sources should always be named within essays or in a works cited at the end of essays - those are sources of information, not sources of inspiration. There is a work meant to inform and then there is a work meant to be creative. Sometimes both aims are attempted, but the best works can do both without robbing what has already been done; an ability to mimic without directly copying, or to translated rather than to transcribe is definitely helpful.

And it has all been done. A writing instructor once told my class that there are only seven plots for stories. I am not certain what they are, but they are probably very familiar: "And they lived happily ever after", "I am the chosen one", "They had trouble, but everything ended up okay", etc. Adventures in Y.A. Publishing gives some lengthier examples of the stories that have been told over and over, are being told, and will be told for the duration of humanity.

So if we should acknowledge our inspirations in some way, should that credit be monetary? Perhaps we could ask an inspiration who demands this kind of compensation "How have you acknowledged your sources of inspiration?" How far back will the money have to go if every successful creative venture has to slice off a percentage of every sale and give it to their unconscious mentors, teachers, and idols? Back to the beginning of creation.

The threat to mimicry posed by the Blurred Lines decision is more of a monetary issue than a issue about the essential essence of the creative process. A creative can make what they want when they have the materials and the work ethic. No one can take away the reincarnation process of ideas. The consequences of creative works, however, are far-flung. Maybe our work will inspire the next few generations. And maybe we will be slapped with an enormous fine just because someone else used an accessible idea first.