Plagiarism is a poignant issue that dates back to time immemorial. The real question we should ask ourselves is 
> is plagiarism outright stealing or copying?

Now, i will answer this question from the perspective of a designer (  even though i have other interests too).

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZJ17QfQTPxdwf5bP34KVNvt17rbLNHCo7JA3b334dF3a/image.png) [source](inkbotdesign.com)

# If plagiarism means copying 
Then I'm afraid that is the bane of our existence as i believe absolutely no one can create something out of nothingness other than the supreme being (who is revered as the uncaused cause) . The truth is everything is copied.  There is no pure original creation, everything we do is an offshoot of what we feel, see and observe around us. Another person somewhere at the end of the world could have a similar experience. 

Think of the way we developed our cognitive ability, the psychological result of perception to our environment, learning and reasoning, we did this by imitating our parents, we get home from school and repeat our friend's awesome display, our language of communication also came to us through copying and reproducing what's been said.  The input-output learning system. 

When i started out in design, I learnt through copying great designers ,their thought process, tools, motivation and inspiration etc. Later on, I found my own instinct. 

Copying is just a way of being motivated and influenced to try something new, while giving credit to the source of the inspiration.

> copying offers the opportunity to learn while stealing avoids the hardwork- Ferdinand Vogler

# Below is an example of a visually similar concept tailored towards a different endeavour. Do we say the designer copied or stole? when there has never been an encounter of some sort.

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaP1tg1eX2GQM2szoKnB1DpkEedVzUNQQURSiQKwFTNy1/image.png)![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmPfhjfjyEnm6XBeyVjT1MfzcTjs4hXzSnkUJD4pW5P97U/image.png)
 [source](https://steemit.com/steemgig/@nanzo-scoop/steem-gig-design-a-logo-for-nanzo-scoop-brand-usd200-sbd)

**Also look at the logos of these two famous brand**
**Uber and Carl Christiansen**
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmTPKibx7Bo49bqL2RD9197MwpaCLb9JN7CnSNQAN1xHMu/image.png) [source](medium.com)

There are several other ideas in history that have been reinvented to becoming new or so i think. Another example are the Fila and Ferrero logo, the Beats and Stadt Bruhl logo and some other known brands that got their ideas from [Trademarks & Symbols of the World: The Alphabet in Design](trademarksandsymbols.com)  The airplane we fly today, the ship built in this modern day were once imaginations of Leonardo Da Vinci drawn in his books.

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmaV9DEYzFcjJ3hnU9QrUTi6ML7wf759o9GeqRwK772Wku/image.png)

In fact I'm inclined to the opinion that copying is about doing old things in a new way, which most often is the precursor to great creations and innovations. Just as T. S. Eliot said of literary works
> Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.

More often than not, the source of a supposed original idea is unknown. I know this is arguable but the fact still remains that no one creates in vacuum. there must have been an influence or an inspiration, a motivation, a trigger or something as a causal factor. As there is no uncaused cause of a thing. 

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdTqwwLTzMn4joWHvDWRwCLbgteBkyXWd9QzhvXsVvueY/image.png)
 [source](indiainfoline,com) This is also similar to the Uber logo

# Plagiarism as stealing
This (to me) is the act of going way overboard with someone else's idea, literary work, art etc. in this case. one or all part of the work is being replicated as your doing without changing a thing. This mostly happens when the plagiarist is too lazy to research or be inspired innovatively by similar great works.  When you take someone else's work without permission or legal right to do so, and you go ahead to imprint your name as the owner of the idea, you steal.
Most of the time a stolen work goes beyond inspiration. They are more than likely always the same 
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZJ17QfQTPxdwf5bP34KVNvt17rbLNHCo7JA3b334dF3a/image.png) [source](inkbotdesign.com)


 As it appears we now leave in a world where even the plagiarist is being plagiarised and the cycle leads to a continuum of altered originality and distortion of creativity. As it is passed down from one plagiarist to the other, the original source becomes unknown.  Save for archives of ages past and the internet of the new age.  Even at that
> Innovation demands doing old things in a new way



**This post was originally submitted as a comment to @lordoftruth's [post](https://steemit.com/steemit/@lordoftruth/what-you-know-about-plagiarism-the-best-3-comments-will-be-upvoted-with-100-voting-power). I found it interesting and i thought i should share for more visibility, comments and opinions**. *Comment submission is still opened till Saturday*

[REFERENCE](https://medium.com/@fvo/your-logo-is-copied-710ac4604258)