Imitation

"Good artists copy; great artists steal."

This is a favorite phrase of Steve Jobs, but he is (mis)quoting Pablo Picasso.
"Lesser artists borrow; great artists steal" is similarly attributed to Igor Stravinsky, but both sayings may well originate in T. S. Eliot's dictum: "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different."

(taken from wikiquote)