Notice anything?

Browsing Facebook is like fieldwork. But instead of walking around, you’re assigned to the “online beat.” The term “beat” in journalism refers to a subject area that a reporter is assigned to cover and report about. For instance, there’s the “police beat” reporter who comes up with all the news about cops and robbers.

One who covers the online beat should be as tough as nails. You sit in your work area and before you know it, you’re reading news articles by your colleagues who have put out some actual work while you’re making sense out of all the Spongebob memes, the water bottle challenge and your life—in no particular order.

One day last week, while I worked double time for the online beat (okay, it’s not really an official assignment), a friend shared a video in Facebook that was recently uploaded by a gorgeous, pretty, stunning (GPS) online personality. The video, as my friend’s caption read, had great camera work as well. So I clicked it. Because, great camera work.

A few seconds into the video, I immediately noticed the background music. It was a track remix of a score from The Untouchables (1987). The song featured was part of the entire film score that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Score.

The thing, however, was that the original track was only a sample used for an entirely different piece of dance music. Though the music was catchy, it distracted me so that I missed the video’s GPS bikini segment. In the video credits, there was no mention of the original composer, and the score was attributed to another obscure remixed track—not the same one used in the video. I showed it to my brother, who was a big fan of the film as well, and we exchanged oohs and aahs. Finally, I found the track used; it was a mix by a DJ duo from Sweden. In their music video, the original composer was credited. Well, there seemed to be no smoke where I was expecting some regarding copyright friction. I guess the matter has been settled. Moving on.

After two days, the same sibling tagged me in another video, this time, a clip featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and his GPS exes. Surprise. A few seconds into the video, I recognized the “original” music used, heavily borrowing riffs and notes from the Muse track Uprising. Well, nobody’s complaining anyway. No smoke. Moving on.

That space between inspiration and imitation is filled with a ton of moral and legal arguments. But for what it’s worth, the root of plagiarism could be traced to mere mediocrity.

I have the great privilege of teaching feature writing in universities, and there were times when I found myself at the judge’s end after reading an odd sentence—a badly lifted quote from a previously published work. Some are quite good at it. However, there are better opportunities for resourcefulness. But some are poor cheaters. Example? Think, hyperlinks unedited. If every criminal left that much crumbs behind for investigating authorities to find at the scene of a crime, the world could market itself as Eden reborn, void of lawlessness.

But it is a fact that some creatives just find themselves challenged by memory when they are called out for a possible case of “creative theft.” Especially in the case of music when melodies are recycled a lot. When there is a case for discussion, some just plead guilty and are willing to share their rights to royalties, while some are adamant about the idea birthed from no place other than their minds.

From a creative’s standpoint, it would be best and noble to steer clear of the “nobody will notice it anyway” mindset. Whether it’s film, music or whatever art form there is, don’t settle and steal. At least, ask permission and attribute the output.