Is plagiarism the plague of Polish comics?

An incident yes, a plague no

But can plagiarism be called the plague of Polish comics? We are of the opinion that rather not, although it is important to remember two important points here. First, domestic comics is still a fairly niche industry and not a particularly popular means of artistic expression. Second, plagiarism must not be confused with inspiration - the fact that someone came up with the same idea, or, moreover, some already existing idea inspired him to create creation, does not yet prove that he committed plagiarism. Otherwise, we would have to consider all literary motifs or character patterns illegal. In the words of the September 15, 1995 ruling of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw (IACr 620/95), "It is not plagiarism to create a work that is the result of a completely separate, independent creative process, even if it has content and form very similar to another work. There are possible situations in which two creators, independently of each other, use the same idea in a work and develop it using very similar artistic means, especially if the works deal with the same topic or with very similar topics."

What is plagiarism?

It is worth realizing that speaking of plagiarism, after all, involves a rather serious accusation, it consists of appropriating someone else's work and publishing it under one's own name. Plagiarism can also be spoken of in a situation where there is a literal borrowing from someone else's work while passing it off as one's own work. Thus, there is no question of plagiarism when the creator uses his own ideas or schemes repeatedly, serving them to readers in different contexts and settings. Such an accusation (?) can sometimes be heard against Janusz Christa, who exploits his own ideas in different formulas. So let's get this straight - you can't plagiarize yourself. Repeating one's own schemes is, by the way, natural in creators, especially comic scriptwriters, whose works for a long time could be called ephemeral creations, were printed primarily in newspapers or magazines, and lived to see book editions only relatively recently.

Christa vs. Goscinny

Speaking of Janusz Christa - he is the subject of one of the most talked-about debates about plagiarism in Polish comics. After all, the Slavic warriors Kajko and Kokosz bear quite a resemblance to the most famous Gauls by Goscinny and Uderzo, Asterix, and Obelix. Kajko and Kokosz are said to derive from Kajtek and Koko, while Kajtek himself made his debut in the pages of "Wieczór Wybrzeża" in April 1958. Asterix and Obelix became known to the world in 1959 in "Pilote" magazine. Theoretically, therefore, the Polish heroes were created earlier, albeit as a pair of sailors. It's hard to resist the impression that they got the shyness of the warriors from Goscinny's inspiration, but there is no question of plagiarism. Two or even three creators creating worlds based on a pair of main characters, built on the principle of contrasts is still not plagiarism.

Old Baron S.A., or comic books, washing machines, and a travel agency

Plagiarism,z and it is unquestionably plagiarism, although accompanied by a very peculiar translation, is what happened in the pages of the publishing house Old Baron S.A. from Lódź. As a matter of interest, per www.pan-optykon.pl, it is worth mentioning that, as it was in the crazy nineties, the company was involved in both the sale of massagers, washing machines, dishwashers, foreign tourism, ran wholesale food stores, a car commission and published comic books. Its career was short-lived, but with a bump: out of five releases, one was a classic plagiarism. The comic book "Beniamin Frezus", signed by Roman Pierzgalski, turned out to be the first part of the story "Kingdom on the Island of the Apes" from the "Planet of the Apes" series.