Contemplating the Ian McEwan plagiarism accusations, Charles Isherwood nearly sighs aloud. “Doesn’t it seem wearying, this stream of ‘gotcha’ stories trumpeting the news that a novelist or a lyricist or a playwright has used a few turns of phrase or the curves of somebody else’s life story without proper accreditation, or with improper specificity? I half expect to read of a lawsuit brought by a journalist covering last year’s plagiarism scandal against a journalist covering this year’s, asserting copyright infringement.”