Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Plagiarism

Hey guys,

So what counts as plagiarism? If Tosh can do his "Is it racist?" segment, I think I'm due for a "Is it plagiarism?" segment.

The following is the theme from the 2009 movie "The Uninvited", the refrain of which is time-linked through the link and features prominently in the movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAu4SrY1wkA&t=1m15s

And here is a song from the 2007 Bollywood hit "Om Shanti Om", which incorporates the same theme, which was featured VERY prominently throughout the movie (after all, it's Bollywood. Thematic consistency - to the point of beating you over the head with it - is a hallmark of the genre):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEjcUKhhsW0&t=15s

Is this plagiarism? Of course it could be (and it damn well sounds like it to me - although being a professed fan of Bollywood makes me a bit biased here.) Now on the one hand, this particular thematic motif is simply exquisite (and appears in much better renditions in Om Shanti Om as well - this is all I could find on short notice after just finishing watching the last 40 minutes of "The Uninvited" and noticing "hey, you know what? you stole that.") It's also very simple, so for two composers to arrive at the same theme is in principle not that difficult. Christopher Young! I've got my eye on you. Feel free to come out of the woodwork to defend yourself!

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