Plagiarized, but it’s cool

Posted on August 6, 2006
Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments

Browsing the web, I came upon my eulogy for Martin Friedmann on a free homework site: 123helpme.com. It was listed under “Eulogy for a Friend.” What’s amusing to me is that someone (or perhaps just some automated crawler) thought this would have any reuse or remix value. Marty was so unique (and the eulogy itself tried so hard to capture this) that I can’t imagine anyone else would find value in it. (Check it out you’ll see what I mean.)

Then I found this eulogy for this young man, with a few lines lifted wholesale from Marty’s…


Although what we’ve lost is tremendous, what he gave us is immeasurable.

To those who knew him no explanation is necessary. To those who didn’t, no explanation is possible.

So I hereby grant unlimited use with or without attribution. Have at it. If it helps anyone in any way, by all means….

Comments

2 Responses to “Plagiarized, but it’s cool”

  1. Mickeleh on August 8th, 2006 10:09 pm

    Not sure how, but my newsreader pulled this in today.

    It pulled me out of my own space and drew me to think of several people I never knew. You, your friend Marty, the young man whose memorial you link to, and this memorial guest book

    I agree that if you have helped people find words that bring comfort in grief, that’s a blessing

    For what it’s worth, lots of folks before you have used the construction… “For those who… no explanation is necessary. For those who don’t … no explanation is possible. Some web references attribute it to St. Thomas Aquinas… but I dunno.

    I guess your generosity in allowing it to be quoted extends both forward and backward in time.

  2. Administrator on August 9th, 2006 4:12 am

    You’re most certainly correct Mickeleh. In fact, what sent me to the web in the first place was a quote on TV that used a similar construction (but in a totally different context.) I likely inadvertantly plagiarized myself, pulling up something unconscious during my own grieving. See my first post on this blog for my disclaimer on “remix.”

    Thanks.

    Bradley

Leave a Reply