But... but... I came up with that idea!

[arthurfallz]

Topic for discussion and sharing stories here.

A few years back, I ran a fairly epic Mage game. My players had a blast, and while the campaign never finished off, it lasted over a year as a weekly game. There was a fairly intricate overplot going on, which the players had to slowly uncover and take their positions in (for, against, changing it to their benefit, etc.). Annnnyhoo... two of the players in this game have been reading the lastest Dresden Files book, which I have not read yet. They've both said the same thing. "It's weird. It's like Jim Butcher was listening to our sessions, because this plot is exactly like yours."

Made me think, on reflection, that my friend had created, out of his head, a super hero character for our supernatural/horror supers campaign back in the 90s. She was a student who had been murdered, and come back from the dead to avenge her death. She could heal quickly, had heightened abilities, and dressed in dark clothing and acted creepy. That summer... The Crow is released in theaters. My friend saw the trailer and (after us both saying we had to see it) lamented that now everyone would think he ripped the idea off!

So, has this happened to other people? You make a concept, and then find a concept that is identical out in the media? Or read/watch new media and go "that's my plot!"

[Witchcraft]

In my mind The Crow might have been written 30 years BEFORE you were born but I only got the money to make the film the summer after you had my idea. Maybe the same thing with Jim Butcher. Who knows about timelines for the inception of ideas? Optimistically, I'd head to the patent office or start trademarking your intellectual property ASAP! It might cost a little money but if you're an ideas machine in a think-tank you might be able to capitalize on it before someone else does.

Although I do have a plot brewing that involves ideas...

[arthurfallz]

In my mind The Crow might have been written 30 years BEFORE you were born but I only got the money to make the film the summer after you had my idea. Maybe the same thing with Jim Butcher. Who knows about timelines for the inception of ideas? Optimistically, I'd head to the patent office or start trademarking your intellectual property ASAP! It might cost a little money but if you're an ideas machine in a think-tank you might be able to capitalize on it before someone else does.

Although I do have a plot brewing that involves ideas...

Born 1976, for reference. I was in my tweens when the Crow was published, in my teens when it hit theaters. If wikipedia is accurate (questionable), I was 1 1/2 when the tragedy happened that inspired the Crow story occured.

And this isn't "This IP or that IP ripped us off!". It's the general pattern of creativity - I see it as, well, we all have ideas. And as mass media develops, and science fiction and fantasy explores new questions, there are vectors, flows and themes that begin to develop. Someone, usually with talent and the right luck, get it published.

But there is a stigma (see another thread in this very forum) with being perceived as "ripping off" ideas. So when you do it, unintetionally, or around the same time as a very popular character/idea hits screens or book shelves, it can be many a creative player or GM who hits the table and says "damnit!"

It's not like my friend made a rock and roll guy who lost his wife to crime and was brought back by the spirit of the crow. But people don't see much difference between "undead revenant back for revenge" and "man fueled by rage and sorrow with the crow as his guide."

[sub]* Apologies if it came off in any way as contest of said IP. This happens... constantly to creative people in my experience. But I didn't publish my ideas, and I enjoy Dresden. I see it as a compliment when a story I told is told by another to great success.[/sub]

[Anthar]

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt from the ripped off IP.

[Noon]

I think people are assuming copyright laws do not take into account paralel development.

Also stuff like that horrorscope experiment where a class is handed out individual horrorscopes then they all say how particular it was to them. Except it's not individual, they are all handed the same horroscope, then start cherry picking it for parts that apply to them.

Same can go for the plot - is it the same as yours, or are you cherry picking similarities ("oh, it involves people! And secrets! And people trying to kill other people! For power! So does my plot!")

[ZorValachan]

Another thing is that with X number of people who have lived across Y number of years, most (if not all) stories are thoughts people have had already.

A great example I have is this scenerio:

A group of people have a weird/unusual experience and get through it. One of the group is 'out' for a day. He gets better and seems to be fine. later the group is having dinner. This guy starts having cunvulsions and his chest bursts open and something pops out, totally freaking out everyone else.

You might recognize this as one of the great scenes from the movie Alien.
It was also the scene of a Roman campfire/ghost story (in this case it was a witch who did this to the guy).

While I do not think Aliens copied from the Roman story, it does show the parallel development Noon discussed, even though in this case it was a couple thousand years apart.

[Stone Gargoyle]

A lot of the ideas I have come up with for comic books and drawn as amateur stuff has actually paralleled some stuff that came out by published authors and artists. It happens. If you don't get something written and published, guaranteed someone else will beat you to it.

[boxee]

The whole deep space nine/ babylon-5 thing. Yea people thought one was ripping off the other.