Search for Shared References within The Ecstasy of Influence

     I really enjoyed Lethem's "plagiarized" essay because it proves that ideas should not be privately owned, but shared. The passage I chose to search was on page 215, "...early in the history of photography..." to "...without compensating the source" (Lethem 215). I chose this passage because comparing visual photographs of common areas to abstract ideas helped me grasp that you can't really "steal" an idea if the original is still intact. I began my search for the original piece, written by Lawrence Lessig, by typing the beginning of the first sentence into google. The fourth result that came up was a link to chapter two of Lessig's book, Free Culture. It did not take me very long to find the original passage within Lessig's book. Originally, this passage was about the early invention of photography and how, when it came into public hands, it did not require the permission of the subject being photographed.
      Lethem made a few changes to the original, especially by omitting sentences that were irrelevant to his own point. He also changed some of the sentences around including, "was the photographer stealing from the person or building whose photograph he shot, pirating something of certifiable value?" (Lethem 215). In the original, Lessig only stated possible arguments that might have come up in court, but by transforming this sentence into a question, Lethem allows people to make their own judgments about photography as theft. Lethem also added "the existence of real mice" (Lethem 215) to the list of originals that Disney drew inspiration from. There is no one to cite for the existence of real mice, except maybe God, so this addition proves that not all sources should have to be compensated if they are readily available to the public. Lethem incorporated Lessig's passage into his own essay very smoothly by adding opening and closing sentences to the original and by shortening the passage to keep it relevant. The new context emphasized that not all sources should have to be recognized when crating art.
     From this "plagiarism" I learned that, by making a few changes here and there, it is possible to take someone's work and use it to strengthen a point that you are trying to make, which may or may not be similar to the original use of the passage. Information is out there and we should be free to use it in order to learn more and strengthen our arguments.In a way Lethem's argument supports Davidson's idea of crowdsourcing because they both encourage using all of the ideas available to the public in order to discover something new. Plagiarism should not be penalized if the copier is able to incorporate a new meaning or perspective from the original work.