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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/14580
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I'm aware that some fictional work is loosely based on others, consciously or not. For instance, **Lord of the Rings** has some common elements with the **Saga of Nibelung** from the old Norse traditions.

Well, I'm writing my own story that has some common elements with a well-known book that is still under copyright. And that is not a coincidence: I really like the original story, and I would like my story to resemble the other one, but without plagiarizing it.

So, just for giving you a concrete example, suppose that my story is based on The Harry Potter books (inspired by this [question](https://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/10567/how-much-copying-is-okay)). Would you say that my story is a plagiarism if:

1. It's about a boy who goes to a hidden wizard school in London, learns that his parents were killed by a villain, gather some friends to fight this villain while attending on the school by learning about mythical creatures, spells and playing a unusual sport.

2. It's about a **girl** who goes to a hidden wizard school in London, learns that her parents were **captured** by a villain, gather some friends to fight this villain while attending on the school, etc...

3. It's about a girl who goes to a **well-known** wizard school in **Japan** , learns that her parents were captured by a villain, gather some friends to fight this villain while attending on the school by learning about mythical creatures, spells and **practicing how to fight like a samurai.**

4. Assuming that the Harry Potter series were **not** under copyright anymore, would it be valuable to write the story described on (3) and make a explicit reference to it (like 'What would happen if Hogwarts was on Japan')?

Original score: 11