Ecriture Et Lignes De Fractures : Le Plagiat Et La Contrefaçon En Droit Français Ou Les Limites De L’imitation

Abstract

The concept of plagiarism is misleading due to the origins of the word itself. Because it is etymologically associated with theft, literary usurpation calls to be characterized by law. Writers have been conscious for a long time that their writings were constructed by a common language of which they are the mere transmitters and fed on the work of their predecessors. Poetic creation refers to mimesis in the Aristotle sense. More generally, it raises the issue of the articulation between imitation and invention. Literacy theorists have thus unearthed the concept of intertextualityin order to explain the links uniting texts to one another. The present contribution proposes to dissociate literary plagiarism and intellectual counterfeiting in French law. The author will try to define what a work - asan author’s original creation - is in the literary and legal spheres.