Ecstasy of influence: A Plagiarism Summary

Ecstasy of influence: A Plagiarism, is an article written by Jonathan Lethem. It gives us the facts and ideas of how plagiarism is seen by millions of people through history and how it differs from one category to another. The article gives examples of artists who use other’s work, quotes, ideas, music, etc. The idea of plagiarism can be seen as good or bad, but it really depends of how the relationship between the owner and the followers is.

The article shows us how corporations sue music downloaders, and how authors steal or “borrow” other author’s ideas and styles to apply it to their own story. It also explains how laws, such as American federal laws, have supported copyrights in order to protect artists. The author also goes into details of how copyright runs the world. He criticizes how distribution make money although, in reality, they are the ones who copy. He also illustrates that certain companies that distribute content, fearing the higher companies that they import from. Plagiarism is not necessarily bad, but it's not always good, As the article claims, some people influence others, and some people steal the influence from other. Artists sometimes end up turning against their audience, and companies end up suing their own record-buying people.

Clearly the author, by giving us specific cases and examples about authors, wants us to know that Plagiarism is not an easy issue to judge because it's rather very complex. He uses words such as “source hypocrisy”, explaining how people gather constellation of voices in their work. Deeper explanations begin to rise in the article when communism comes to role and gives the word property. It explains how people need property that they truly own in order to survive. The author also tries to tie in the aspect of gift economies, not in the essence of buying something, but by creating a connection between people. Lastly, the author goes into scientific perspectives of “undiscovered public knowledge”. The article can give us many explanations of how plagiarism works, and obviously there are lots of perspectives that are raised in the text.