Plagiarism / Colin Niebergall

So what is at stake when we consider the thought of plagiarism? Is it an underlining issue of who get's what credit for an individual piece of work. What is considered to be an individual piece of work, do we not learn from others and lessons that were taught to us by those others at an earlier time in life. Do are teachers and mentors deserve the same kind of acknowledgment that we want to receive when we write the next big novel, or produce the next huge pop song? You say, well they didn't really influence this piece that much, or this idea, but in all actuality everyone is influence by each person they interact with. This brings us back to who deserves the credit, the real can of beans, the fame, or downfall which ever way you want to look at it.