This whole debate is very applicable to the world of software. In fact, I believe that computer programs are legally considered to be works of literature (although I'm sure it's more complicated.)<p>The authors argument is roughly "you're not allowed to fork my proprietary project because it's proprietary," while the school librarian has an opinion that I would consider to be more copyleft. I tend to agree with the librarian.<p>I think that writing a book that uses major plot details from another book without copying them verbatim is not illegal. That would be analogous to writing a program that does the same thing as a proprietary program. I argue people should have the right to do this for books just as they should have the right to do this for programs.