There is an unspoken belief among music critics that had George Harrison not been a Beatle, he wouldn't have lasted more than a minute in the pop business. This belief has nothing to do with Harrison's talent and everything to do with his professional judgment. First, he released all his good songs on one three-record set right off the bat, thus rendering him an immediate has-been as a solo artist. Second, when he was sued for ripping off the melody of the Chiffons' 1963 hit "He's So Fine" for his 1970 hit "My Sweet Lord," he professed that he had done so "unknowingly." Perhaps the judge was a closet Stones fan, but in any case he didn't gently weep over the ex-Moptop's naivete but forced him to hand over the royalties.

The lesson here is that if you're going to steal ideas, be brazen about it, because no one will ever believe you if you claim the theft was accidental.

The Japanese are often accused of taking what isn't theirs and remaking it. And while they sometimes improve on the original, this tendency has given the country a reputation as a land of copycats. Occasionally, the borrowing gets a little too close for comfort and lawsuits ensue. While the local Starbucks franchise was opening outlets faster than you could say "caffeine addiction," its main domestic competitor, Doutour, tried quietly to launch its own boutique coffee-shop chain with a logo and color scheme that was practically identical to Starbucks'. They didn't get away with it. After the Starbucks headquarters in the United States threatened legal action, Doutour made a few squeaks of protest and rolled over. All the signs were bright blue the next morning.