[continued from previous message]

to know whether he plagiarized the phrase, "I Have A Dream." The
answer is no. Accounts of the phrase's origins differ; I think
it is based on biblical passages such as Joseph's line in
Genesis: "I have dreamed a dream." If so, King's use is
transformative (Rule No. 1) and biblical (Rule No. 3).

Some say King took the phrase from a 1962 sermon by Prathia
Hall, a young worker for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee. Even if that is true, King's use follows the rules.
Dr. Hall told me shortly before her death that King "did far
more with it than I could have done." (Rule No. 1).

These ground rules should give us a starting point for
considering the inevitable charges of oratorical plagiarism that
will occupy the campaigns between now and November.

The "I Have A Dream" speech borrowed freely from other sources,
but it was not plagiarized. Based on what we have seen so far,
neither are the speeches of Clinton and Obama.

Hansen is the author of "The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and
the Speech that Inspired a Nation" (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2003).
He is a partner in the Seattle office of Susman Godfrey LLP and
is raising money for Sen. Obama's presidential campaign. He can
be e-mailed at drew@drewhansen.com.

http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/The-rules-on- plagiarism-with-full-credit-to-MLK-1785866.php


--- SoupGate-DOS v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)