TolkienMovies.com
August 30, 2001

Interpretation is NOT Plagiarism
Steve L.

This is a brief response to an article submitted yesterday concerning whether Peter Jackson can be accused of plagiarism. This is an absurd idea. To paraphrase Webster's, plagiarizing is stealing the ideas or words of another, trying to pass them off as one's own. It is the use of something created by another person without crediting the source. Obviously, Jackson is not claiming LOTR is his own story. He's also not stealing Tolkien's ideas and using them to create a similar story with minor changes in details. He's making a movie version of Tolkien's story and giving all credit to the author that he deserves; and I'm sure Tolkien's family has been involved in the project as well. So, have no fear. There's nothing remotely like plagiarism happening here.