In the industry, you do need some ethics - if one film does well, then thousands get work and money comes back to the industry. I guess the bottomline is, if there are two versions, then the better one will click. ↗
Abroad, they have covered pretty much all subjects, explored every possibility, every twist. So similarities between ideas you have and those filmed abroad are quite possible. ↗
Time will tell how you rate against the rest of the competition. I'll let everyone else worry about championships. I'm going to worry about qualifying at Pomona. ↗