Yep. Several of my most successful films have come from explicitly attempting to imitate someone else's style. And I've never once had anyone accuse me of cop

Yep. Several of my most successful films have come from explicitly attempting to imitate someone else's style. And I've never once had anyone accuse me of copying - indeed, I'm not sure anyone has ever realised that I was riffing on another filmmaker without me explaining it beforehand.