Plagiarism
Plagiarism is essentially taking someone else's work or ideas and marketing them as your own. Students and teachers most often run into this issue when writing research papers or finding students who copied work from a peer. According to the article "What is Plagiarism" from plagiarism.org, you are also committing plagiarism when you fail to cite (or inadequately cite) courses for information or quotes, and when you copy media from other forms without citation as well.
Copyright
Copyright is defined as "the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (such as a literary, musical, or artistic work)" (Merriam-Webster, 2018). It protects intellectual property presented in a tangible form, which can range from music or art to software or building design. (U.S. Copyright Office).
Fair Use
Fair Use is the idea that portions copyrighted material may be used without permission under certain circumstances. This idea, and guidelines, are outlined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act. The section identifies certain types of uses that may be considered fair, such as using excerpts for critiquing, teaching, or reporting news; however, rulings on whether or not these uses is fair - and how much material is fair - can vary from time to time. Section 107 suggests using four factors to judge fair use: 1) purpose of the use; 2) nature of the original work; 3) amount of copyrighted work used; and 4) to what extent this use will have an effect on future value or market of the original work.
(U.S. Copyright Office)
(U.S. Copyright Office)
Resources to Cite Sources
There are many online sites that help outline the basic rules for citing various sources under APA, MLA, and other formats. Probably the most well-known source is the Purdue Online Writing Lab. Other sites - CitationMachine, EasyBib, or BibMe - help you build citations by selecting the type of source and either manually inputting the necessary information, or searching for the source in their database. These sites also offer paper checks for grammar and spelling errors, as well as plagiarism. Many teachers and educational systems also utilize TurnItIn, a website where students upload papers and can receive feedback and revision suggestions from their teachers. This site also checks for plagiarism in essays.
Visit the U.S. Copyright Office's website to learn more about U.S. Copyright policy.
Plagiarism.org contains many extra resources for student and teachers on the topic of plagiarism, including how to teach the topic, ways students can understand and prevent plagiarizing, and resources to help students cite their sources.
Ohio State University offers a free e-book to help students with their research. It includes chapters that overview plagiarism, fair use, and copyright, as well as information on how to cite resources.
Sources Used: (www.plagiarism.org) (Merriam-Webster, 2018) (U.S. Copyright Office)