What is Copyright?
Copyright refers to a legal concept of works that belong to the original creator. In other words, someone who creates a work of art, writing, images, or music immediately owns it and is their "intellectual property". In order for someone else to use copyrighted material, they must receive permission from the original owner of that intellectual property. This can either be free (if decided by the owner) or the person using it can pay the owner in a mutually agreed-to contract.
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is simply the practice of using someone else's work/ideas and claiming them as your own. Essentially, it is important to credit someone and their work if you are using it to supplement your own work. Even if someone does not plagiarize intentionally, you must always make sure to give credit where it is due so that someone doesn't mistake the work you borrowed as your own.
What is Fair Use?
Fair use is a doctrine that allows certain forms of copyrighted material to be freely used without having to give credit to the original owner. Essentially, fair use is a tool that was created by law makers to simplify certain aspects of copyright law. It allows people to use works of intellectual property that are commonly used in the public domain. Becuase these works are used so frequently, it is unnecessary to take the time to give credit to the copyright owner. The reason for this is that it is "common knowledge" that these ideas originated elsewhere and are easily seen as "borrowed material" without having to make it clear. It is always important to double check, however, that something falls under Fair Use before assuming you do not need to receive permission from the copyright owner.
Using Copyrighted Material Appropriately
As mentioned earlier, it is important that students understand how to properly use and site copyrighted material or information that is not their own. The first way to avoid plagiarism is to use your own words instead of copying the material directly. This shows that the student is forming their own ideas and way of communicating the information. The second step a student should take is to site the source. There are many free websites that allow students to site their sources in an organized bibliography. One common website that students can use is Bibme.org.
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