Grappling with the Gray #34: Yesterday's Gone?

Is a crime ever victimless, even where there really are no victims?

If I take someone else's idea but then make it my own, how much have I actually stolen?

If pursing the right course demands an act of piracy, can piracy itself be the right course?

These are some of the topics addressed when this week's panel grapples with the gray.

This episode's ethics challenge:

In the 2019 movie “Yesterday,” struggling musician Jack Malik wakes up one morning to discover that the entire world has forgotten that the Beatles and their music ever existed.  He records their classic hits as his own and becomes a sensation, but eventually he begins to question whether he is entitled to claim the music as his own.

In Jane Hanff Korelitz’s novel The Plot, Jacob Bonner is teaching creative writing at a third-rate MFA program.  One of his students submits a manuscript draft with the most brilliant plot Jacob has ever read.  When he later learns that the student died without completing the manuscript and apparently without heirs.  Jacob steals the plot, publishes the story as his own, and becomes a celebrated author.

In both cases, creative works would have been lost to the world if not for the person who appropriated them.  Since no one lost through their appropriation, did they do anything wrong?

Meet this week’s panelists:

Professor Pete Alexander is Adjunct Marketing Professor at Antioch University, as well as a professional speaker and author on reducing stress in everyday life.

Rosemary Ravinal 🎤 is a public relations expert, C-Suite presentation coach. and creator of the ZoomScore™, a yardstick for measuring the essential elements of success.

Kathryn Woods is a Communications expert, confidence and voice coach, speaker, and speech pathologist.