Plagiarism: Where is the line?

[justalurkr]

So, someone posts a new SGA story. It's decently written, has a snappy AU plot, Sounds So Rodney and is Just So John you really feel like a sh!theel making this next evaluation: it's unsettlingly similar in plot and tone to Some Other SGA Story that you've read.

Um, an even better SGA story at that. Longer, hotter, funnier. It's as if the current writer picked about three of the elements that make the other story cool and wrote a little something-something with just the "good" bits.

Nota Bene: I don't for a minute think the author of the shorter piece intended plagiarism in any sense or definition of the word.

Should I therefore keep my observation to myself? Or is it constructive criticism to say "it would be an even better story if it didn't remind me of this other one in ways that make your story suffer in comparison?"

Comments

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

Actually, having typed all that out and thought about it, I realized that I was reading a story and thinking "that's been done better elsewhere," which isn't at all plagiarism.

It's also a vastly unkind thing to say to a writer who did a decent job on the story she wrote, so I'm keeping it to myself.