Dana wrote: <In C21 US copyright law, there is a defense known as "scene a faire" (obligatory scene)--that is, a theme or series of events that is used so often in a genre that it cannot be considered the property of any particular writer. <snip> I daresay that, as mentioned, Fertility Festival (with or without Aphrodisiac chaser) qualifies.>
Absolutely :-), as is the aphrodisiac plot with or without the Fertility Festival. There's just too many of them, good and bad, to say *this* particular story is where the idea came from (it could even have come from a story on a different fandom's website).
I hate to be a bitch, but I couldn't help thinking that had the second writer *been* consciously copying Pat's story, her own would have to picked up a few bits of decent writing as well ...
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