• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, January 16, 2012

From the late-to-the-party-entertainment-copy department: Madonna now claims Lady Gaga has been stealing her act -- and perhaps a song.

This is not new in the entertainment industry. Artists have been stealing from each other for a long time, since one cave owner decided to copy a nice sketch of deer being hunted on a neighbor's cave wall.

More recently, rock musicians have copied from older Delta blues artists, TV from theatrical films, films from TV shows, and even reality show producers from each other.

Last year, NBC's "The Voice" shocked more than a few critics and analysts with its strength --  looking a lot like one long-running singing competition show. Its strong performance was more surprising in that the Mark Burnett production aired around the same winter/spring time period as the original singing competition heavyweight, Fox's "American Idol," which is  still going strong.

Then Fox copied itself in the singing category with "X-Factor" this past fall.

Of course, it's not just reality shows. Since TV began in the mid-20th century, many shows have copied each other. Most recently, there have been multiple versions of scripted crime procedural shows, medical programs and game shows. Syndicated talk shows? Scores have come and gone since Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey started in the early 1980s.

The big questions are: Should people complain, should there be legal action, and should viewers rebel?

In a world filled with many more entertainment platforms and services, we can expect more copycats -- from competitors and networks riffing off themselves. We need them, and all their various incarnations.

How many "Real Housewives" series are on Bravo, anyway? Is imitation the  sincerest form of flattery? Yes, unless you do it better. Then everyone -- and sometimes their lawyers -- get pissed.

Lady Gaga? Is she just Born This Way? Madonna? Would she just want all fans to Express Yourself? We may just want all of it. Borderline, at best.