There seems to be a lot of reports lately from people upset that users have stolen your or another users' idea. It seems that the community has somewhat of an issue determining exactly what the definition of "stolen" is.

By posting a project, skin, etc here on PMC, you are not granted the sole property of that idea here on this site. As an open community, we encourage competition; people can make their own versions of your idea. If you make an Ironman skin, it is very likely that somebody else will also make one, and that they will share similarities. Keep in mind though that Ironman isn't an original idea to begin with, so technically you have "stolen" somebody's idea already.

While that's a rather specific and easy example, there are some topics that may not be as easy to discern between stealing and inspiration; one that comes to mind are builds. Obviously, a block-for-block copy of another persons' build is a blatant steal, no question about that, but what happens when a user posts a project with the same original idea as yours?

I'll give an example that is oft-posted today, and is actually against our rules due to the amount of exact duplicates out there; sky-block. Skyblock's concept is simple: start out on a floating block of grass with a tree and a chest with a few items in it. Survive and make an awesome castle. The original idea was very basic, and if I recall correctly, the challenge was to do it as quick as possible (I may be wrong on this though, if somebody can clarify that would be great). It became very popular as a concept, and has expanded greatly following its' release. Many users created versions with many floating blocks of different materials - full floating biomes, floating world sections, etc. These aren't direct copies, but are rather inspired by the original concept of surviving on a floating block of Minecraft Earth.

This long-winded post is basically just to say please don't report posts if all they've done is based it off of your idea unless there is sufficient proof that they've actually stolen something. I do recommend that users who wish to base off of another persons' idea give them credit, however, especially if the idea is rather specific. Contacting them to let them know/ask them if it is alright is also a good idea; do not be surprised if they decline your request though. People are very protective of their original ideas, but they must understand that competition is how the world goes 'round. Consider this; if the first adventure map creator was the only person who was allowed to create adventure maps, how creative could the community be? Would we be severely limited?

Thanks for listening, and I hope I cleared up any issues between stealing and ideas.