PLAGIARISM & COPYRIGHT • You've probably used the Web to do research for your homework assignments at one time or another.If you copy someone else's words and paste them into your documents without giving credit to the original author, it's called plagiarism. WHAT IS PLAGIARISM ? • Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work. Plagiarism is theft. Using someone's work or ideas and passing them off as your own by not giving credit to the authors is legally and ethically wrong. You could even be taken to court over it. How Can Students Avoid Plagiarism? • To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you useanother person’s idea, opinion, or theory;any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of information—that are not common knowledge;quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words; orparaphrase of another person’s spoken or written words. What is Copyright? • Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the nation to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. What is the Difference Between Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement • The main difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement is that plagiarism is an ethical issue, whereas copyright infringement is a legal issue. • Plagiarism refers to the passing off someone else’s work or ideas as one’s own, whereas copyright infringement refers to the use of copyright-protected material without the permission of the copyright holder. Both plagiarism and copyright infringement involve using someone else’s work without permission. What is Plagiarism • Plagiarism refers to the act of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own. We mainly use this term in the academic field. Plagiarism involves all published texts in both printed and electronic form. This also involves unpublished materials like lecture notes and other students’ essays. Furthermore, plagiarism can occur in various forms: • Submitting someone else’s work as your own • Failing to use a quotation in quotation marks • Citing inaccurate information about the source of a quotation • Copying ideas or words from someone without giving full credit • Changing words but duplicating the sentence structure of a source without citing the source • What is Copyright Infringement • Copyright is the right to copy or reproduce – the only ones with the exclusive right to reproduce the work are the creators of the product and anyone they give authorization to. Examples of some unique work that you have to protect with copyright include music, art, novels, movies, website content, computer software, etc. Individuals and companies generally register for copyright protection to ensure only they can profit from their efforts. But they can grant permission for others to use their work through licensing arrangements or selling the copyrighted material to another party. • Copyright infringement refers to the use of copyright-protected material without the permission of the copyright holder. This is considered theft or illegal duplication. In fact, this is an act punishable by law. Moreover, disputes regarding copyright infringement can be resolved through direct negotiation, sending a notice to take it down, or litigation in civil court. As a matter of fact, advancements in digital technology and the widespread use of the internet have led to many cases of copyright infringement. For example, many copyrighted movies are available for download on the internet through torrents and other sites. Difference Between Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement • Definition • Plagiarism refers to the act of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own while copyright infringement refers to the use of copyright-protected material without the permission of the copyright holder. • Nature • Whereas plagiarism is an ethical issue, copyright infringement is a legal issue. • Copyright • Plagiarism involves copying any work, including work that has no copyright, but copyright infringement only involves work that is protected under copyright. • Context • Moreover, plagiarism usually involves written work in both printed and electronic form, whereas copyright infringement can involve music, art, novels, movies, website content, computer software, etc. • Crime • In addition, copyright infringement is a civil crime. While plagiarism is not a crime under law, it can have penalties like expulsion from the college. • Conclusion • Plagiarism refers to the passing off someone else’s work or ideas as one’s own, whereas copyright infringement refers to the use of copyright-protected material without the permission of the copyright holder. The main difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement is that plagiarism is an ethical issue, whereas copyright infringement is a legal issue • Plagiarism occurs when someone does not give credit to the ideas or works they use to support new points or works, or passes it off as their own. • Infringement is when someone reuses the work of others outside of the limits of copyright law, or takes the rights over the work held by a copyright owner without permission. Example • Most students were born in a time where online technology made copying and distributing all kinds of information very easy and fast to do. They are often unaware of or misunderstand intellectual property issues, and are surprised when they are accused of plagiarism or are given a takedown notice for something they posted online. Some students may knowingly plagiarize or infringe on copyright due to various influences. Educational experts agree students need to understand the considerations of working with intellectual property, whether they are creative (e.g., music, poetry, images) or scholarly works (books, text, data, or research).
