"The whole game of intellectual ownership here has been so stylised that it is hard to discern the purpose, even if we all recognise the rules. For example, when the second paragraph of this column lifted 13 words verbatim from the King James Bible, was that plagiarism? Obviously not. But only because everyone knows that I was quoting from the Bible. If the copying is blatant enough, it is no longer plagiarism but homage."