Jean Komatsu wrote:
This is definitely plagiarism. I agree with Isobel Hamilton that Pat's "Mixed Doubles" is probably the original and far superior. The plagiarized untitled story is a clumsy attempt to repackage the storyline.
No, it's not plagiarism, not under U.S. law, anyway. Plagiarism requires actual copying of text. Independent acquisition of the same idea, or even deliberately mimicking someone else's idea are both legal - pro writers do it all the time. For that matter, independent construction of the same text is legal - how many writers have written, say, "Avon glared at Blake"? Copyright law covers the *textual execution* of the story, not the plot of the story.
And frankly, considering that fanfic is already in a bit of a grey area legally, worrying about the copyright *of* fanfic seems a tad - strange.
Mistral