TheDude wrote: I've seen quite a few videos of Hillary stealing lines and Obama stealing lines from others, word for word. So what? This isn't a novel. It's a speech. Politicians use the words of others in their speeches constantly. This isn't news, it's a common occurrence. Plus, if I remember correctly, you're legally able to quote around 100 words in the US without violating copyright laws. This falls under fair use.
I agree that it really isn't as big of a deal as people are making it out to be. It isn't an issue of fair use or copyright or anything like that, but rather proper etiquette. She and her speech writer just ended up looking really stupid. If these people would just acknowledge the source, it would be fine.
Melania could have said "I agree with Michelle Obama who said blah blah blah", but this is politics and we don't like giving any credit to the other side, ever. They ended up having to admit she admires Michelle along with admitting plagiarism anyway, so it would've been less distracting or damaging to the campaign to just give her the credit in the speech in the first place.
To be clear, my feelings about this apply to every politician who does this regardless of their political leanings. Just source the damn quote, people, or don't use it at all!
