When Comparisons Hurt

I'm the first to admit it. I'm a book geek. I love Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, The Mortal Instruments...need I go on? I see almost every movie at the midnight (now 10pm) release, and I buy the swag. You know, sweatshirts, T-shirts, key chains...you name it. What I don't buy into is the idea that every book written since these books were published are cheap knock offs, nor do I subscribe to the belief that each of these books is one hundred percent original in its own right. After all, wizards, war, and vampires existed long before J.K Rowling, Suzanne Collins, and Stephanie Meyer incorporated them into their stories. I'm sure if you asked them, they'd tell you the same thing.

Humans are inspired by each other's stories. Since the beginning of time when stories were told verbally, one story would trigger another story would trigger another, and so on. So my question is, Why must readers criticize other authors and claim that their original stories are copies of the aforementioned or another existing series? In a similar vein, why can't a story that incorporates magic stand on its own without being compared to Harry Potter?

I'd like to propose we give all authors the credit they deserve. Writing a novel is hard work, imagining the characters, the setting, the plot. Please don't undermine a writer's creation by calling it a copy. Unless it's plagiarized, which of course is illegal, it's not a copy. It's the blood, sweat, and genius of the person who wrote it.