This is the fifth rule of Jim Jarmusch, an independent film director and I love it (read it).
One way to start a fight with most African American creatives is to "steal" their idea. The fact is nothing is original. This is not an attempt to stifle creativity but to encourage innovation. I once worked at a general market agency where weekly someone would stand over my shoulder, lurking but, not commenting on what I was doing, only to later have their version of my work show up in a creative meeting. It pisses me off just thinking about it. The funny thing is, I wanted nothing more than to be a collaborator in that shop. Instead of this oddity to tip toe around or the occasional idea vending machine. I like the concept of sharing ideas, borrowing knowledge and down-right ripping something off to use in another market, for another product, with my own tweaks to deliver to fresh eyeballs.
Lastly, I don't completely agree with Jim. If I add a soft or hard innovation to something current, it becomes new. Now, if somebody happened to do it before... I'll probably end up starting a fight.
cred:
Jim Jarmusch https://sites.google.com/site/mayuradocs/PinIt.png
