[Cleo, a lioness librarian that runs a library with her lion husband Leo, son Lionel and daughter Leona, finishes explaining to a patron how great it is that use of the library is "free." The patron leaves. Lionel, having overheard, approaches.]

Leo: You're absolutely right, Mom. Reading is free. Playing outside is free.

Cleo: True.

[Having overheard, Leona approaches.]

Leona: Oh, and listening to poetry is free, or music, or, or... smelling a lamb chop.

Cleo: Smelling a lamb chop...

[All three breath in an imaginary smell with a satisfied sigh.]

Cleo: You know, that reminds me of a story, actually, about someone who kind of disagrees with you on that. It's right—... [looking for a book] Ah, it's right here in front of me. Here we go: "Stolen Smells," written and illustrated by Chimoyoy Royroy. Here we go.

[Cleo narrates the following story, portrayed with animation and character voices:]

Cleo [offscreen, narrating]: Once upon a time in India there was a woman named Koyel who cooked the best sweets in all the world.

Koyel: I cook the best sweets in all the world!

Cleo [narrating]: When Koyel cooked her sweets, the wonderful smells drifted into the streets, drawing people into her shop. And once they were there, they bought lots of sweets, like jalebi, ladoo, and gulab jamun. Koyel made lots and lots of money.

Koyel: Money money money!

Cleo [narrating]: One day, Koyel saw a boy, named Bijoy, standing outside her sweet shop, enjoying the wonderful smells of her sweets.

Bijoy: Mmmmm!

Cleo [narrating]: Koyel waited for Bijoy to come in and buy something, but he started to walk away.

Koyel: Hey! Little boy! Where are you going?

Bijoy: I'm going home. I have a soccer game to go to.

Cleo [narrating]: Koyel was very annoyed at the boy.

Koyel: But you smelled my smells, and did not buy any of my sweets.

Bijoy: I'm not hungry. But thanks for the smells! Bye!

Cleo [narrating]: Koyel was even more annoyed at the boy.

Koyel: Well if you don't buy any sweets, then you must pay me for the smells!

Bijoy: Pay for the smells? [chuckles] That's funny! [laughing] That's a good one!

Cleo [narrating]: But Koyel was not joking, and she called the local police.

Bijoy: The police?

[Back at the library, Leona interrupts the story.]

Leona: The police?

Lionel: No!

Cleo: Yes!

[Back to the story:]

Cleo [narrating]: The police arrested Bijoy and brought him before a judge. The judge asked Koyel and Bijoy to tell their sides of the story.

[Lionel interrupting:]

Lionel: Well, there's no way the judge will think Koyel is right. Right?

Cleo: Well, maybe yes... And maybe no!

Leona: Oh! Read, Mommy! Read read read! Please please please?

Cleo: OK.

[To the story:]

Cleo [narrating]: The wise judge listened carefully to both sides of the story. Then she made her decision.

Judge: Bijoy, Koyel made the sweets, so the smell of the sweets do indeed belong to her. You must pay for them.

Bijoy: What!

Koyel: Nyah nyah, you have to pay me! You have to pay me!

Cleo [narrating]: The judge asked Bijoy to give her five rupees.

Bijoy: But... I can't believe this!

[Bijoy hands five rupees to the judge.]

Cleo [narrating]: Koyel held her hands out greedily for the coins.

Koyel: Come to Mama!

Cleo [narrating]: But the judge said...

Judge: Koyel, in payment for the smells of your sweets, you will receive: the sound of money.

Koyel [outraged]: The sound of money! The sound of money?

Bijoy [tauntingly]: That's what she said. You don't get the money, just the sound!

Cleo [narrating]: The judge dropped the coins from one hand to the other. They made a clinking sound. Then the judge gave Bijoy his coins back.

Bijoy [taunting]: The sound of money, the sound of money.

Koyel: Oy!

Cleo [narrating]: And to this day, Bijoy enjoys the smells of Koyel's sweets, which he pays for with the sound of money! The end.

[Back at the library.]

Lionel: Oh, that was awesome! Koyel was being greedy, and the judge knew it.

Cleo: Yup! Smells don't cost a thing...

— "Stolen Smells," Between the Lions

I left off a bit at the end of the scene where the three lions smell then pounce on a plate of lamb chops. I don't consider that bit relevant to a discussion of theme or intent, but some might.

Between the Lions, a public television show for children about language and reading, often features complete tellings of real children's books. In the case of "Stolen Smells," the story is not from an actual book, but was written specifically for the show. (The "author's" unusual name, Chimoyoy Royroy, and the story's text use the episode's featured phoneme "oy" a conspicuous number of times. This is also the only reason I can find for the story taking place in India.)

A greedy merchant takes a young boy to court for having stolen property, when what was stolen is dubiously property and the act dubiously stealing, beyond the notion that said property was "created" by the merchant. While the boy's act was a sort of sampling of the merchant's product, the act of sampling did not impact the merchant's actual profits, because the boy would not have purchased the merchant's actual product regardless of the opportunity to sample ("I'm not hungry"), and the act did not deplete the merchant's actual saleable goods.

It's not a complete analogy: There are no elements corresponding to derivation, which I consider essential to copyright philosophy. I read the notion of the smells wafting into the public street as a sort of interaction with the public domain essential to the main product's commercial value, but that's a bit of a stretch. And someone is going to point out that the smell of a sweet is a minor aspect of the full product, while a copy of a song (for example) could reasonably be made into a replacement for the product. But enough important pieces are there that I'm terribly disappointed this isn't a real published book that I can buy for my kids.

The context of the narration is also a big thematic win. I mean, they're librarians reading the story from a library book! On public television! How awesome is that.

Watch Between the Lions, "Stolen Smells," on YouTube.