Cryptomnesia

Perhaps you've heard about the Harvard student by the name of Kaavya Viswanathan who has been accused of duplicating another author's words (specifically, those of Megan McCafferty) in her work. Lisa Wangsness of the Boston Globe cites several passages from both writers' works to show that the similarities are more numerous than could believably arise by coincidence, so duplication has indeed occurred, whether it was intentional or not.

( Blah dee blah blah... )

Sometimes I try to imagine how it would feel and what I would do in a situation like Viswanathan's. There have been three instances in my high school life when I've suspected a substantial similarity between a completed work of my own and an existing piece. Happily, all three turned out to be false alarms, but before I realized that I had misinterpreted my friends' reactions, the thought was scaring the living daylights out of me. Although I try my best to check the music I create for any similarities to other music, I'm always afraid that something will slip past me. I still don't know what I'd do if that were to happen.