Plagiarism Inevitable, Say Experts

Recent incidents of plagiarism -- such as Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan’s chick-lit novel and “Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management” by the CEO of Raytheon -- are not aberrations but rather part of a rapidly growing and probably inevitable trend, said experts in human creativity.

“We’re simply running out of original things to say,” said one expert, who said he got his opinion by reading several books by other experts.  “As the band Weezer sang, ‘It’s all been done before.’ Or was that Bare Naked Ladies?  I don’t know.  Maybe it was both of them.”

According to modern historians who cited older historians as their source, human civilization has been around for approximately 4,000 years. During that time, people have spent much of their lives writing books, poetry and plays. “How many variations on ‘boy meets girl’ can there be?” asked one.  “Pretty soon you start duplicating yourself.”

The experts pointed to this year’s batch of Hollywood movies, which include Mission Impossible III, Superman Returns, X-Men III, Miami Vice, Pirates of the Caribbean II, and Poseidon. “Even our criticisms about how derivative Hollywood movies are have been made before,’ said one industry insider.  “People have been complaining about sequels and prequels and remakes for at least the last decade.”

The problem is not limited to books and film. “Western music has just eight notes. Even adding in sharps and flats, there just isn’t that much material to work with. The result?  People start to copy other people.  Look at George Harrison -- he ripped off My Sweet Lord from He’s So Fine. And that rap music -- well, it all sounds the same to me,” said one musicologist.

A panel of experts, reprising a discussion held last year, predicted a grim future where “all art will simply be recycled.”

“Our lives will be like TV Land -- the same stuff, over and over and over,” said one panelist. “Of course, that may not be all bad.  It is pretty entertaining. A lot better than these new shows.”