When Does Tribute Become Ripoff?

I was working on my next D&D session and sent a half joke tweet to Scott Kurtz www.pvponline.com letting him know I'd be using the clan of dwarves his character from the podcast hails. One of the players I met during World Wide D&D Day, Tracy @sarahdarkmagic on the twitters, commented that we should start a group for those of us that build on the information provided by the Podcast. This got me thinking, where does that line blur?

People will always pull from what they know for inspiration. I've based characters off literary works, TV characters, Webcomics, and Comic Books. But that's what they've always been, inspired by. My sarcastic Cleric? Greg House. My Ranged based fighter? Green Arrow and Hawkeye. My competent battle ready bard? Elan from Order of The Stick (though it was a known fact he was modeled after him as much as possible). Tracy's twitter name? The sister of Jim DarkMagic (Of the New Ham-Shire Darkmagics). When you're just starting playing the game, it's easiest to go "Ok, I want a character like X." It's making them LIKE X that's the key and not just making them X.

Then there's the people that make them identical in game. In Wow, any night elf hunter named Legolas, Legoolas Legolaas, or some variety there in makes me nauseous. I camped a human named Aaragorn for half an hour on principle.

Without inspiration from something else, nothing would be improved. But if you're going to borrow, don't take. Make it your own, you'll enjoy it more.