Songwriter Dylan’s Borrowed Lines

Re “A Tradition of ‘Borrowing,’ ” editorial, July 15: If Bob Dylan had wanted to “borrow” a dozen or so lines from a Japanese novel, he could have done so, fairly and legally, under the fair-use doctrine -- as long as he gave credit to the author, Junichi Saga. (Not cash, just credit.) Apparently, Dylan chose instead to misrepresent this work as entirely his own.

Die-hard Dylan fans -- I used to be one myself -- rationalize that “the album’s title [‘Love and Theft’] shouts out that the songwriter borrowed the goods -- but returned them in a beautiful package.”

This is like saying: “Yes, he took a joy ride in that car, but he admitted it, and he gave it a lovely new paint job.” Bonus track that does not appear on this CD: “Hey, Mr. Novel Man (Help Write Some Songs for Free).”

Joel Saltzman

Thousand Oaks