“J.J. Abrams responds to fans who say Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a ‘rip-off’’”

“Abrams mentioned that the original Star Wars films themselves were based on classic storytelling themes that heavily influenced creator George Lucas. "Those simple tenets are, to me, by far the least important aspects of this movie,” Abrams said. “They provide the bones that were well proven long before they were used in Star Wars. What was important to me was introducing a brand new chapter, brand new characters, using relationships that were embracing the history that we know to tell a story that is new.”

Perfect answer, in my opinion.