No one in the real (or business) world cares about plagiarism.

A: Could I steal an idea of yours to make money for myself? I think that wheelchair that goes up stairs is nifty, and I could make some dough out of it. Do you think that its inventor, Dean Kamen, would care if I used his idea without asking him for a license?

In August 2000, a jury in Orange County, Florida, ordered the Disney company to pay Nicholas Stracick and Edward Russell $240 million for stealing their idea for a sports theme park. Disney reported this order in its SEC filing for 2000 (search for "Stracick"). Disney is appealing, but this type of argument is one of the few that has had any success against the company. Even Disney can't steal someone's idea (in theory)!

Those in the "real" world do care a great deal about important ideas that are stolen, whether it is an idea that should be attributed (to avoid plagiarism) or copyrighted or patented material. Businesses will sue you and take your money if you try this and get caught in the real world.

(Thanks to James Walden for noting the differences among copyright, patents, and academic conventions.)

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