"T R A U M A"
..differentiation.

˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ BEFORE WE START 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
Okay, after successfully dragging us through all the tough legal stuff with copyrights, let us talk a bit more about the differences between taking inspiration, copying and recreating another work.

I will include a few graphic examples to loosen up the chapter, also refrain from including too many lengthy explanations, laws or articles. So have a bit more fun with this.

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˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ INSPIRATION 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
You can take inspiration from many things: songs, movies, fictional characters or actual human beings, other books or artworks and god knows what. Anything and everything can be a muse and an inspiration.

But it is important to give (inspiration) credits where (inspiration) credits are due, keep that in mind. In which way you provide those credits is most likely up to you, but it needs to be clear and easy to find for your audience. In other cases, where you are being inspired by someone who requires permission or would like to be informed if you have created something inspired by them or their works, also do not forget to ask for said permission (preferably beforehand) and inform them once you post your creation on the Internet.

There is really no shame in taking inspiration, everyone does it all the time. So I do not understand how people are being so hesitant to show that they have taken inspiration from someone or something.

Let us take a look at a few examples of what "taking inspiration/being inspired" could look like, before we jump into copying and recreating works.

₀₀₁ example:
Being inspired does not mean creating something that accurately fits the concept you have been inspired by. As for this design I was inspired by movie "The Mummy" (2017) and wanted to add runes and "double irises" to my face claim. But the rest of the design and its backstory got nothing to do with the movie itself, as it was an entry for a challenge from @plutointhestars where I had to create a cover for a magical being and i chose a witch. So, in short, I simply got inspired by certain visuals (the characters appearance).

₀₀₂ example:
As mentioned before, you can get inspired by a lot of things, maybe even by multiple sources at once. This design is actually inspired by the song „sandman" from Ellise and the visual concept/aesthetic from the upcoming series „Sandman". Again, I saw the Netflix posters but did not recreate or copy their look. I listened to the song, but the design is not really related to the lyrics.

₀₀₃ example:
Maybe I should include a more specific example too, where you actually follow a certain concept or idea you have been inspired by. So not just being inspired by general vibes or visual aspects, but a specific idea. This may come close to copying, but in a very subtle way, where your own ideas and alterations are still overpowering the original concept enough for the final result to not be a straight knock-off. Did that make sense? I actually don't have a graphic example for this, but the layout and decorations (symbols/emojis) from my shop "Make A Wish" are inspired by another shop (ShinezGguk). Of course I asked them beforehand if they were fine with me doing something similar, added a „special thanks to" section in the shop intro, and linked back to their account and shop.

Again, there really is no limit as to what you can get inspired by or from how many sources. But the line between being inspired by and copying something is really thin, so always make sure you get in touch first with whoever inspired you and do not forget to give credits back to them!

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˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ COPYING 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
Since I do not want to publicly call anyone out, as that is also against the wattpad guidelines, I will only use my own works to imitate a copying/plagiarism situation. So the example(s) may not be perfect, but I think you will still be able to get the message.

Of course copycats work in a variety of different ways. Some copy the raw idea and concept behind another work, but still manage to hide their crime behind making details look different enough. So the original creator would definitely see the connection, but other may not. Then there are copycats who really live up to their name and straight up copy paste stuff. The audacity..

Again, copying someone else can happen in so many different ways, but either way it is not okay and so damn disrespectful. Do not lower yourself into such a level, work hard, improve yourself and really earn up to success.. do not build it up on other's work.

Alright, let us take a look at a few examples of what "copying someone" could look like. I will focus on images and designs, but of course text works can be copied too.

₀₀₁ example:
On the left you can see a design I did at the end of 2021 and on the right is a work of mine from early 2020. But for the sake of this example, we will act as if they are from two different creators and one copied the other. This might not be the most perfect example for and identical looking copy, but I would say it is still an 8/10 for similarity. Color scheme is pretty identical, model is the same and the body stock is from the same photoshoot even, placements are almost actually identical and details match too.

₀₀₂ example:
Fun-fact, this is actually an old theme of mine that was part of a plagiarism issue, where someone not only copied the covers (placement, colors, font, ..) as closely as possible, but also the text and layout within the books. But for now we will act as if these are not both mine and rather from two different creators again. Pretty similar to the previous example - background and color scheme are identical, font is identical, the general concept idea has been copied and the editing style too. Even small details like the Netflix logo. Only the perspective, placement and models are different. But overall this definitely crossed the stage of "just being inspired".

₀₀₃ example:
Yeah, we once again act as these are not both made by me but by two different creators instead, yada yada yada. This would be a very subtle copying example, close to the "i am just being inspired" excuse. Sure, the background is not identical, the second one is much more colorful and got slightly more horror vibes. The model are different as well and small details like the nose bleed and taped mouth have also been changed up. But we still have a close up model, glowing light source in the back, dark atmosphere, identical font with bloody details, very similar editing style for the model details (such as the eyes). Now it would definitely depend on the back story these two creators would share or not, have they had plagiarism issues between each other before maybe? This would be a case where it's really up to the creators, some might react very sensitive, due to previous experience - whereas others might not react to it at all. But every reaction to subtle copying like this is valid, should be respected and solved peacefully.

As i have said before, there are many ways in which someone can potentially copy another creators work and it really is not a fair thing to do. Always stay respectful, respect other content creators as well as yourself. Issues like this can not only be possibly punished by the law, but also really damage your reputation as a whole!
These may also not be the most perfect examples and I really had to fight the urge to just use situations where someone else has copied me, but always try to be the bigger person. I think you get the message I am trying to get across here.

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˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ RECREATING 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
Just like "copies", "recreations" can be done in various ways too. It is really difficult to draw the line between copying and recreating something. I would almost say, that "recreations" are this blurry line between "being inspired" and straight up "copying" something. Not identical enough to be an actual copy, but still too similar to be just simply inspired (meaning that original details still overpower your own alterations and ideas brought into the design).

The following examples are actually designs I have recreated after a while, one where I was staying close to the original concept and one where I just very roughly took the original concept as orientation.

₀₀₁ example:
The design on the right was created in 2017 I think, it is pretty old by now to say the least. Whereas I have done the design of the left around the end of 2020, for a Halloween Special. Now, as you can see, the rough concept is still the same: some sort of high school au, including a ghost/demon girl, who is haunting someone through a technical device. We also have similar sub-titles and details like "counting" scratches. But there are also quite a few differences: instead of only one model the newer design includes two, a different model portraying the character(s) overall as well, a slightly different color scheme and overall different placements and perspective. This is a clear example of a "re-do" or "recreation", but not a direct copy in that matter.

₀₀₂ example:
Yeah, this is the same example I have used for the "copying" section earlier. As mentioned, it is really difficult to draw the line between recreating and copying something. But the design on the right is actually a fan cover I have made at the beginning of 2020 and the design in the left is the final result from when I decided to recreate it around the end of 2021. As I had improved my editing skills and wanted to see how I would elaborate the concept "nowadays". For this example, we actually have a ton of similarities and I do not think I really need to point them out all over again, you get it.

No matter how closely you want to recreate something, if it is not your own work to begin with, then reach out to the original creator - inform them about what you would like to do, ask them if they would be comfortable with you doing or even publishing it and do not forget to credit them for being some sort of inspiration. Really, it is neither that difficult nor something to be ashamed of.

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˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ SOURCES 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
SOURCES 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
Down below is a summary of all sources used for this chapter.

₀₀₁ Text(s):
No external ones actually, everything said are my personal opinions/experiences

₀₀₂ Image(s):
All of them are my very own (intellectual) property

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© eggyeuls, 2022