Authorial Ownership (again)

Is it possible to steal a story?

To plaigerize is "to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own: [to] use (another's production) without crediting the source ...[to] present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source" (Webster's Collegiate, 11th ed.).

According to this definition, not to mention copyright law, "literary theft" is not only possible but probable and is clearly a serious matter. My compulsion to use quotation marks and include a citation of some sort following the above definition serves as evidence of such crime and (hopefully) prevents me from committing it; however, it is my contention that if I paraphrase Webster's definition (sans any mention of Webster) and assert plaigerism as 'the ripping-off of someone else's writing or ideas," I am indeed guilty of plaigerism.

In fact, when it comes to plaigerism, I am a repeat offender. To take this one step further (and thus create a black hole), according to Webster's definition, which seems reasonable enough to me, one could argue that not only have I never, in my entire life, asserted an original thought or written an original word, but that even my citations and other efforts at honesty constitute plaigerism as well.

A defense, in this instance, might be to pass the buck and point to my parents, who first taught me not to steal, and they too might blame another. Hell, let's blame the Bible or the Koran, or more appropriately, the authors of these lofty texts. On the other hand, my honesty might actually belong to me; it is possible, after all, that I remember, way back in nursery school, how it felt when I discovered my black crayon clutched in another toddler's pudgy fist. At any rate, you can be sure, if I'm ever asked to prove it, I will most certainly choose this line of defense over indicting my own mom and dad!

Proving ownership of a story seems to me a tricky matter. Copyright laws have been established to facilitate this process, and published documents exist as concrete evidence; however, a story, whether "fact" or "fiction," especially prior to publication or some other official and public registration, is not only intangible but subjective. If two people witness an event, for example, and both individuals attempt to record the factual specifics of the event, it is almost inevitable that two very different stories will emerge.