Is Copying Always Bad?

As teachers, we make it abundantly clear to students that copying is bad. Copying is a crime. Copying is unethical. Copying gets you an F or a suspension.

In the “real world,” copying is sometimes illegal but often ok. Sometimes it’s even preferred. Plagiarism is bad, and so is piracy. But what about adaptation? Reproduction? Innovation? Scale? Replication? Emulation? Inspiration? Creativity?

Einstein: “Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources”

Ecclesiastes: “Nothing is new under the sun”

Voltaire: “Originality is nothing but judicious imitation”

Jobs: “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.”

Over the past 3.5 years I’ve been a devoted reader of “Seth’s Blog”. Seth Godin posts thought-provoking pieces each day, not too long (usually), and very enlightening. His hub is permission marketing, but his insights touch on business, education, and life in general. In many ways this blog was just a way for me to copy him and add my own flavor. I even thought about calling it “Jeff’s Blog.”

We spend plenty of time teaching our students how not to copy. How much time do we spend teaching them how to copy well?