On Tue, 11 May 2004, skzb wrote: @> My problem with using ideas that I've read on the list has nothing to do @> with any legal questions. It has more to do with thinking, "Oh. Someone @> else came up with that? Well, I guess it must be too predictable/" I hate @> being predictable. On the other hand, changing something I think is cool @> just because someone else had the idea is problamatical. I recall a story about a library in which every possible book existed. And it was pretty useless, of course, because most of them looked like "1alkh121la43mm4sj4". Certain remarks about Shakespeare, monkeys, and typewriters also spring to mind. Generally, when speculating on the plot, people disagree about what's going to happen, and if all possible options are expressed, we're going to inevitably hit the one that you've selected. (If a large number are expressed, we'll generally hit it. Etc.) Or, to put it another way, if you refused to develop an idea purely because somebody else mentioned it in your hearing, you'd spend all your time in a tiny lead box with your fingers in your ears, and then you'd have to dictate your books. And, frankly, I think we'd all get bored hearing about the adventures of flat and parsley.