The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism

The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism was written by Jonathan Lethem and posted to Harper’s Magazine. This essay was published in 2007 directly to Harper’s Magazine. Jonathan Lethem is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He wrote a lot about art and the creative culture. Which is only to say he is very interested in the topic and probably knows his audience well/ The article talks about the new and old thinking of plagiarism. It speaks of copyrights and how bootlegging movies is just stealing a handbag. But Lethem puts it in a way that is very understanding and convincing, if bootlegging movies, burning friend’s CDs, etc. is stealing then borrowing a book from a friend is also stealing. He explains that stealing means taking it from the owner and having them never obtain the possession back; but with bootlegging movies, illegally downloading/taking music, borrowing a friend’s book, the owner still has their possession, their movie, music, or book. Lethem talks about how everything is easily accessible with the Internet.Lethem discusses that without plagiarism, art, creativity, etc. would not exist as it does today. He describes cartoons and how they mimic other people’s work in the past or use other people’s work to build around.

I agree with Lethem’s argument. Plagiarism is not the same and maybe does not have to be considered bad because plagiarism was used so often in technology and media and has allowed our creative society to grow. I really reading about the section about how “you can’t steal a gift”. Lethem explains that the art world is considered a gift whether or not you had to pay for the museum entrance or concert hall. When a person shares with you what they have created, it is something of a bond between you and the artist whether or not you know the artist or not. I agree with this statement. The artist is sharing something, that is very meaningful to them and in the light that they see it, with their audience, their buyers, their followers, etc.

I think the article could have been improved by being shorter. It was very long and seemed a little redundant in a lot of places. Also, some the essay was a little hard to follow, so maybe if it was written in simpler terms which the length is also in play there.