The idea of it
I thought of it first.
At the school of Greytowers, Dobbin ran a lunchtime club called Curious Questions from which he noted down various strange facts about the world, and he had the idea of putting them into a list also called Curious Questions.
They were popular with the club, but although the editor of the school magazine, Flash Bagman, thought they were a bit dull, a teacher put up a copy of them on the notice board.
But one day, Dobbin’s mum read out a story from the news paper about how a certain Flash Bagman had won a prize for Curious Questions, much to Dobbin’s great vexation.
Flash had also set up a club called The Curious Questions Club, which, when Dobbin said he’d take the matter to the teachers, he changed to The Curious Questions’ Club (the apostrophe making all the difference).
The material which Flash had used was, by and large, similar to Dobbin’s, barring a little rewording, but when Dobbin challenged his rival, accusing him of intellectual theft, he was dismissed. Flash thought that no one would confuse their styles, and the facts were all in the public domain. And if Dobbin’s going to cause trouble, there might be Brains to deal with.
Who’s the prima donna?
Hold on. Prima donna? Isn’t this scenario all about plagiarism? Oh well, if anyone’s being a prima donna, it has to be Flash Bagman who’s getting maximum mileage out of Dobbin’s idea and all the glory for it. Dobbin, on the other hand, was content with his Curious Questions discussion group and some minor fame at school.
The discussion in the book seems more concerned with this scenario as an allegory (obviously about the Internet).
They were popular with the club, but although the editor of the school magazine, Flash Bagman, thought they were a bit dull, a teacher put up a copy of them on the notice board.
But one day, Dobbin’s mum read out a story from the news paper about how a certain Flash Bagman had won a prize for Curious Questions, much to Dobbin’s great vexation.
Flash had also set up a club called The Curious Questions Club, which, when Dobbin said he’d take the matter to the teachers, he changed to The Curious Questions’ Club (the apostrophe making all the difference).
The material which Flash had used was, by and large, similar to Dobbin’s, barring a little rewording, but when Dobbin challenged his rival, accusing him of intellectual theft, he was dismissed. Flash thought that no one would confuse their styles, and the facts were all in the public domain. And if Dobbin’s going to cause trouble, there might be Brains to deal with.
Who’s the prima donna?
Hold on. Prima donna? Isn’t this scenario all about plagiarism? Oh well, if anyone’s being a prima donna, it has to be Flash Bagman who’s getting maximum mileage out of Dobbin’s idea and all the glory for it. Dobbin, on the other hand, was content with his Curious Questions discussion group and some minor fame at school.
The discussion in the book seems more concerned with this scenario as an allegory (obviously about the Internet).
Tomorrow’s scenario is a tale of rarity value. It’s all money in the bank, I’m sure.
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