ANTICIPATORY LITERARY PLAGIARISM AS PHENOMENON CHANGING COPYRIGHT PARADIGM

Abstract

The contribution introduces the theory of anticipatory or foreseen plagiarism which should prompt us to reexamine the existing copyright paradigm. The literary anticipation theory creates a hypothesis that some authors to outlive their time due to their literary style or thematic vision and in the process, allegedly “robbing the literary treasury” of authors living and writing centuries later. The foreseen plagiarism theory transcends time and space which allows for an understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the overflow of the literary gene among authors living in different centuries. This article contrasts anticipatory plagiarism with the plagiarism concept of unauthorized and deliberate copying of a work in the past. The article morally assesses different types of plagiarism, therefore explaining the nature of copyright consequences. The legal definition of the concept of plagiarism and its depiction as a social offense the legal consequences of which may affect various areas of the private law, have, in the context of this work, a platform function providing space for developing the hypothesis on the possible existence of another literary phenomenon defined as anticipatory plagiarism. The anticipatory plagiarism theory destroys the inflexible conception of temporal impact which serves as a symbolic key to decoding the context of the development of a number of important but controversial (in terms of authorship) works of world literary heritage. This contribution focuses on clarifying the possible nature of the phenomenon in question while demonstrating the need for reexamination of the existing concept of literary history and the plagiarism phenomenon (in terms of copyright) through the introduction of circumstances discovered. The topic of literary plagiarism is presented in a historical, legal, psychological and economic contexts. The author further develops the anticipatory plagiarism theory described by the French literature professor Pierre Bayard and adds an additional attribute, thus constructing a new legal doctrine with the potential to confirm the nature of the investigated phenomenon. Anticipatory plagiarism in described as a phenomenon on the edge of paranormal phenomena while providing empirical evidence of its existence. The text takes into account the critical approach to the issue in question offering ideal conditions for factual debate and approaching the topic at hand as objective and comprehensively incorporated.