Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
I'm not saying that they're plagiarism at all. I'm saying that Joe Bloggs starts schlepping around Hollywood with his script, or his script idea, gives the High Concept (pitch line)
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The folks that make Star Trek were offered (and refused) Babylon 5. Then they did DS9. It's not a rip-off or copy, but certainly they might not have thought of it without B5.
Also two authors can be inspired by books or films ages ago, which they may even have forgotten.
And you need to connect with the culture of the reader. A certain amount of stereotypical to trope content is inevitable. There any number of stories and settings, but not many distinct plots.
The Greek legend of Orpheus was in some cases deliberately copied by European writers in the Middle Ages. Other Celtic and Norse tales may simply have similar elements because they are close to universal ideas.
Note that I'm pretty ignorant of folk stories of the Americas and Africa, know hardly any Indian and only a few famous Chinese. Some Persian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman. Our Norse stuff is mostly from a couple of Icelandic sources.
https://tvtropes.org/