The main problem is everyone bases 99% of their creative endeavour off of other peoples work, and the truly great works that infuse pretty much all creative wor

The main problem is everyone bases 99% of their creative endeavour off of other peoples work, and the truly great works that infuse pretty much all creative works like Tolkien are 1) too ubiquitous to cite. Imagine a world where 99% of all English works and probably 80% of non English works had to cite inspiration from Tolkien. Or are we only citing after the impact is big enough? How will you measure impact? 2) You don't even have to read the works or know of their existence to take from them wholesale. People don't even have ever read a Fantasy novel, to have had their world view and knowledge pool suffused with Tolkien's ideas. 3) almost all ideals come from prehistory. Tolkien left his mark on elves, and goblins, and wizards, sure, but 90% of that comes from unknown ancient authors.