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Comment by unalone | Hacker News Reader

Because they rely entirely on my creation to exist, and they add nothing beyond what I've made. All they do is take my creation and remove some things. They add nothing to the procedure.

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I'd say making your creation easier for others to understand adds value. Else sparknotes wouldn't exist.

This gets into a sticky argument of exactly how you define value. For me it's adding something that isn't already there, and so if all you're doing is summarizing without contributing anything new, then even though it holds value it's not really making an original piece of work.

But Sparknotes are not just a summary, they are also an analysis of the work. Consider the following table of contents for the Sparknotes of Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone:

   Context
   Plot Overview
   Character List
   Analysis of Major Characters
   Themes, Motifs & Symbols
   Important Quotations Explained
   Key Facts
   Study Questions & Essay Topics
   Quiz
   Suggestions for Further Reading

An author has no more right to claim ownership of this than they do any review/critique of their book.

Apology, then - if it's doing more than summary, then it's a creative thing. I didn't know Sparknotes entailed all that.

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