UNITED STATES—The idea of being able to claim complete and utter credit for a great idea, is something many would like to do, but ultimately, roots can be traced back to at-least general sources. This intellectual property business is particularly important in a world where nearly any information is readily available, courtesy of the Internet and enterprising computer connoisseurs. With so much information, it's not entirely uncommon to forget exactly where one was first exposed to a particularly pleasing idea. However, once individuals start claiming credit for ideas and work seen elsewhere, it is a slippery slope.

There is a common saying, which is commonly used to diffuse tension in cases of "copy-cats" that goes a little something like this: "Imitation is the highest/sincerest form of flattery."

What exactly is intellectual property? The World Intellectual Property Organization defines it as such: "Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce."

The WIPO further divides IP into industrial property and copyright, with the former being defined as including "inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source," and the latter encompassing "literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs."

Intellectual property is a very fascinating area of study, with a nearly endless array of issues relating to the topic (there is a reason a distinct branch of law is dedicated to this field of mental gymnastics). With the vast swap of ideas through the Internet, there is no end to what can be written, read, extrapolated and constructed. When one considers recent examples of copyright and plagiarism issues, the initial complaint often revolves around an un-cited reference or a too-similar use of information and ideas, already published. It takes little to no effort to tip the digital hat to the originator of an idea, with a simple aside, a sentence, a handful of words designating where such a clever idea was born.

Following the WIPO's division of intellectual property, let us consider examples of intellectual property use, focusing on the latter category.

According to the WIPO, included on the recognized list of copyright-protected works (courtesy of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works), are "books, pamphlets and other writings." "Other writings" appear to cover those writings appearing in print, such as in widely-read newspapers and magazines. Naturally, when another source of individual is not cited as the wellspring of information, it is assumed that the writer penning said ideas, is the progenitor of the point. In May 2009, longtime New York Times writer Maureen Dowd was accused of having used another writer's ideas, without giving credit. Dowd's counterpunch was that her point, which was eerily similar to earlier author Josh Marshall's, came from an unnamed friend. The Huffington Post ran an e-mail from Dowd, where she said that she got the idea from an unnamed friend: "my friend must have read [the original source, Josh Marshall of TPM]... without mentioning that to me." What Dowd still did not account for, was why she would have felt more comfortable exactly regurgitating a friend's words, again without giving outside credit. Dowd's credibility has been seriously questioned as a result, when a similar digital nod and a link to Marshall's writings would have taken under a minute to add. Was it an honest un-cited mistake or a case of hubris from an entranced journalist not looking to share the credit for what was seen as a useful idea? You be the judge (but note the time stamp on Marshall's work). In a recent update from the Huffington Post, it was noted that Dowd will be giving a nod to Marshall's work. Had the citation been used from the start, rest assured that this would have been a non-issue.


Though films certainly do fall under the umbrella of intellectual property, it is not easy to prove intellectual property infringement, in regards to film creations. It is nearly impossible to copyright a movie name, and if a plot is tweaked just enough, it can be considered "different" enough from an earlier film. Take for example the musical hit "Mamma Mia!" and the less widely-remembered 1968 film, "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell." What many may not realize is that the latter was undoubtedly something of an influence on the ABBA-scored musical. "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell" is the story of a beautiful single Italian woman (the indomitable Gina Lollobrigida), who falls in love with three very different men, who visit her beautiful getaway. Now, all three of the men are equally likely to have fathered her child, but all of the men believe he is the father of her daughter. (Stop me if you've heard part of this story somewhere before.) Now, replace the Italian woman with an American in Greece, and the three soldiers with three strapping young men, and you've got a hit Broadway musical and 2008 movie.

A little over two decades ago, one of the most powerful men in the world was accused of plagiarism as well. Then Senator Joe Biden, the current Vice President of the United States, was running for the Democratic nomination for the 1988 Presidential election, when he had the serious accusation of plagiarism thrown at him. The biggest problem? That he had allegedly plagiarized someone else's life. The 1987 speech was widely seen as eerily close in structure and ideas to an English politician's biographical sketch of a speech. Was it possible that Biden was, like Dowd, the victim of an extraordinary coincidence of intellectual output? Anything is possible.

Had Biden stated that he very much enjoyed a recent politician's speech, and then proceeded to adapt it to his own ends, the matter may not have cost him an early bowing out from the 1988 Presidential stage.

One of the greatest gifts of being in a free and prolific society, is that great ideas are most certainly not few and far between. Any high school-age student has been taught the importance of the proper citation, so why should any adult be immune to the rules of the intellectual property game? Cannibalizing the intellectual property of others should not be tolerated on any level, especially when involving public officials and those whose work will be read more widely than their quieter muses. Any writer, politician or private citizen who co-opts any idea which did not originate with them, faces a slippery slope at their own moral risk.

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