Chapter 5

Chris just found some good stuff on the Web

for his science report about sharks. He
highlights a paragraph that explains that
most sharks grow to be only 3 to 4 feet long
and can't hurt people. Chris copies it and
pastes it into his report. He quickly changes
the font so it matches the rest of the report
and continues his research.




What should Chris have done?
He should have written down the name of the
website and the name of the person who
wrote the article. Then he could have added it
and given credit to the source.
It's not always easy to tell what's plagiarism
and what's not. Sometimes, it's accidental
you really intended to do your own work, but
instead ended up with some sentences that
sound just like something you've read. You
might not be doing it intentionally, but if you
don't identify the original source, you're
risking a lot of trouble.

So even if you put the information into your
own words, you still should list the source.
Ask yourself, "Would I know this if I hadn't
read it on that website or in that book?" If the
answer is no, list the source.



Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the
"wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or
"purloining and publication" of another
author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or
expressions," and the representation of them
as one's own original work,

Cite every piece of information that is not;

a) the result of your own research, or

b) common knowledge. This includes
opinions, arguments, and speculations as
well as facts, details, figures, and statistics.



Use quotation marks every time you use the
author's words. (For longer quotes, indenting
the whole quotation has the same effect as
quotation marks.)
At the beginning of the first sentence in which
you quote, paraphrase, or summarize, make
it clear that what comes next is someone
else's idea:
According to Smith...
Jones says...
In his 1987 study, Robinson proved..
At the end of the last sentence containing
quoted, paraphrased, or summarized
material, insert a parenthetical citation to
show where the material came from:

The St. Martin's Handbook defines plagiarism
as "the use of someone else's words or ideas
as [the writer's] own without crediting the
other person" (Lunsford and Connors 602).

(Notice the use of brackets to mark a change in
the wording of the original.)


A paraphrase accurately states all the relevant
information from a passage in your own
words and phrasing, without any additional
comments or elaborations [it] always restates
all the main points of the passage in the
same order and in about the same number of
words. (Lunsford and Connors 596)

During the Thesis Report Writing the student
have to select an article relevant to their topic
and then paraphrase it.

1. Paraphrases with no citation

Because a paraphrase is supposed to contain all
of the author's information and none of your
own commentary, a paraphrase with no
citation is an example of plagiarism.





Lunsford and Connors go on to give two
examples of unacceptable paraphrases: one
that uses the author's words, and one that
uses the author's sentences structures (597).



Lunsford and Connors also state that "even for
acceptable paraphrases you must include a
citation in your essay identifying the source of
the information" (597).
This point is crucial: without the information
about the source, an appropriate paraphrase
becomes plagiarism.



Even if you have avoided using the author's
words, sentences structure, or style, an
unattributed paraphrase is plagiarism
because it presents the same information in
the same order.
2. Misplaced citations

If you use a paraphrase or direct quotation, it is
important to place the reference at the very
end of all the material cited. Any quoted,
paraphrased, or summarized material that
comes after the reference is plagiarized: it
looks like it is supposed to be your own idea.

This is one reason why accurate note taking is
so important; it is possible to forget which
words are yours and which are the original
writers.


Original source:

Paraphrasing material helps you digest a
passage, because chances are you can't
restate the passage in your own words unless
you grasp its full meaning. When you
incorporate an accurate paraphrase into your
essay, you show your readers that you
understand that source. (Lunsford and
Connors 596)

Finally, a point about multiple citations from
the same source: cite them all individually. It
is not adequate to give one citation at the end
of the paragraph for a bunch of individual
points abstracted from a source.

Parenthetical citations are intended to make
citing your sources easy to do; don't be shy
about using them.
Here are some other types of plagiarism that
students should be aware of:

Having a friend write a paper for her or using
someone elses paper as her own.

Submitting one of her own papers or
assignments for more than one class.

Downloading or buying a term paper from the
web.



A charge of plagiarism can have
severe consequences, including
expulsion from a university or
loss of a job, not to mention a
writer's loss of credibility and
professional standing.
An owner of a copyright owns a bundle of
rights. Each of these rights can be sold or
assigned separately.

Copyright infringement occurs when one of
those rights are used without the express
consent of the copyright owner.
The rights owned by the owner of a
copyright include:

The Right to Reproduce the Work;
This is the right to reproduce,
copy, duplicate or transcribe the
work in any fixed form. Copyright
infringement would occur if
someone other than the copyright
owner made a copy of the work
and resold it.







The Right to Derivative Works;
This is the right to modify the work to create
a new work. A new work that is based upon
an existing work is a "derivative work."
Copyright infringement would occur here if
someone wrote a screenplay based on his
favorite John Grisham book and sold or
distributed the screenplay, or if someone
releases or remixes of one of your songs
without your consent.



The Right to Distribution;
This is simply the right to distribute the work
to the public by sale, rental, lease or lending.
The music industry lawsuits targeting file-
sharing web services claim that these services
violate the right to distribution held by record
labels.



The Public Display Right;
This is the right to show a copy of the work
directly to the public by hanging up a copy of
the work in a public place, displaying it on a
website, putting it on film or transmitting it to
the public in any other way. Copyright
infringement occurs here if someone other
than the copyright holder offers a work for
public display.





The Public Performance Right;
This is the right to recite, play, dance, act or
show the work at a public place or to transmit
it to the public. Copyright infringement would
occur here if someone decided to give
performances of the musical "Oliver!" without
obtaining permission from the owner

THE EXCEPTIONS

There are three exceptions to the copyright
infringement rules, which allow one to
reproduce another's work without obtaining a
license or assignment of rights.

Fair use.
Public domain.
Non copyrightable work.





Fair Use;
This is a doctrine which permits the
reproduction of copyrighted material for a
limited purpose of teaching, reviewing,
literary criticism and the like. Without the fair
use doctrine, books and movies could not be
reviewed and colleges and high schools would
not be able to study works by people like
Arthur Miller. This is also how television
programs such as The Daily Show are able to
use copyrighted material in their commentary.
"Fair use," however, is determined on a case-
by-case basis.




Public Domain;
This refers to works which are no longer
covered by copyright law. For example, the
song The Star-Spangled Banner can be
performed without ever paying license fees to
anyone because the copyright has expired.



Non-Copyrightable Works;
Copyright infringement cannot occur when
someone uses material that cannot be
protected by copyright, such as facts or
ideas. However, if someone puts a bunch of
facts into the form of a book (e.g. The
Farmers Almanac), copying all or part of that
book would constitute copyright
infringement.


Michael Bolton vs the Isley Brothers

The Isley Brothers isnt as well known a name
as Michael Bolton, but unfortunately for Mr.
Bolton, they share a song with the same name
and some of the same lyrics. The Isley
Brothers song was released in 1966 under the
name Love is a Wonderful Thing, Michael
Boltons song was released in 1991.



A suit was brought against Michael Bolton by
the Isley Brothers for allegedly lifting parts
from their original song of the same name
and in 1991 Despite Michael Bolton and the
co-author of the songs argument that there
was insufficient evidence supporting the
jurys findings, the district court found in
favor of the Isley Brothers and left the largest
award in history for plagiarism in the music
industry intact.



The Isley Brothers were awarded 5.4 million
dollars, the calculation based on sixty-six
percent of past and future royalties. (Also
taken into account was twenty-eight percent
of the past and future royalties of the album
Time, Love and Tenderness as Love is a
Wonderful thing is contained within that
album).