Originality
Originality is the quality of being novel or independently created rather than copied or derived. It can describe works, ideas, or acts of creation.
Creativity: Creativity is the ability to produce ideas or works that are both novel and useful or meaningful. Originality is one dimension of creativity, distinguishing novelty from mere skill or usefulness.
Imitation: Imitation is the act of reproducing or modeling something after an existing person, work, or pattern. Imitation is the clearest counterpoint to independent creation.
Copyright: Copyright is a legal system granting creators limited exclusive rights over original works of authorship. Originality is a threshold for copyright protection, though legal standards vary by jurisdiction.
Authenticity: Authenticity is the quality of being genuine or faithful to an origin, identity, or standard. A genuine work need not be novel, and a novel work may still raise authenticity questions.
Intertextuality: Intertextuality is the network of relationships through which texts echo, transform, or reinterpret other texts. It challenges the idea that works can be wholly independent of prior culture.
Authorship: Authorship is the act or status of creating or taking responsibility for a work. Claims of originality often depend on identifying who created a work.
Influence: Influence is the effect one person, work, or idea has on another. Original works can draw on influence without simply copying their sources.
Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co.: A 1991 United States Supreme Court case holding that facts are not copyrightable and compilations require minimal creativity. The decision established a prominent U.S. standard for originality in copyright law.
Quality: Quality is the degree to which something meets relevant standards of excellence or fitness for purpose. Originality measures novelty or independence, not whether the result is good.
Memetics: Memetics studies how cultural units such as ideas and practices spread and change through imitation. Cultural transmission complicates any sharp boundary between copying and creation.