He wanted to write a novel about cheating, like " The Art of Cheating," but would that count as plagiarism?

Like Zhuge Mengming, the protagonist relied on some kind of extraordinary skill to cheat through his studies, but he learned martial arts and the purpose was to save his friends and himself. However, the more I write, the more I feel like I'm plagiarizing 'The Art of Cheating.' Can everyone give me some pointers?

Answer 1

plagiarism refers to the act of extracting ideas, plots, characters, and other elements from someone else's work without authorization and using them in one's own work to avoid copyright issues.

Using other people's works as inspiration and adding relevant elements to one's own work like 'The Art of Cheating' did not necessarily constitute plagiarism. This was because this type of work was inspired and did not directly copy other people's creativity and elements.

If you wanted to write a novel about cheating, you could first come up with a story framework and plot from your own creativity, then draw relevant elements and inspiration from the story to form your own work. However, it was important to note that one should not directly copy other people's works. Instead, one should add their own unique thoughts and expressions while borrowing from them.

In short, as long as one did not directly copy someone else's work and obtain direct economic benefits from it, it was not considered plagiarism.