The Concept of Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement
Written by Akinrelere Sunday
I once posted a quote sometimes ago on Facebook with my name written at the end of it as the one who was privileged to get the inspiration. Few minutes later, a buddy copied the quote verbatim; he removed my name, and included his name so as to get the credit. Sincerely, I was baffled!
This will lead us to the concept of plagiarism.
What is plagiarism? English Mini Dictionary defines it as “the copying of another person’s ideas, text, or other creative work, and presenting it as one’s own”. It has to do with ‘lifting’ people’s ideas, word for word, and putting it down the same way, without making reference to the original author.
You can see from the definition above, I made reference to English Mini Dictionary. That’s just the shortest way of referencing the owner of that definition.
An advanced form of referencing, which is mainly used in academic environment, will not only stop at the name of the author (English Mini Dictionary), but will include the edition (e.g. 5th edition), the year of publication (e.g. 2018). But we need not to go to that extent since we are not writing an academic thesis or a long essay (project).
If I were to define plagiarism in my own words, I will define it as “the act of stealing somebody else’s idea or work of imagination and introducing it as one’s own”. You see the difference? I chose to use the word ‘stealing’ instead of ‘copy’, and I used ‘introducing’ instead of ‘presenting’. Got that?
No one is born a writer; It is a training of the mind. You can develop yourself to that level. Peradventure you don’t have the time to come up with your own words at that time, maybe due to time constraint, there is nothing bad in copying the idea or the quote verbatim and make reference to the author. It is a virtue to share an author’s good ideas with others but it becomes a vice if reference is not made to the author.
Now, here’s a related one. Have you come across this symbol “©” before? That is the symbol for copyright which is found in most books. The author has exclusive right over his/her work and can sue anybody who infringes or violates his/her right granted by the Federal Copyright Act.
Copyright infringement is an assault on the intellectual rights of authors and is punishable under offence. You can’t just copy another person’s copyrighted work without first requesting for their permission. That is the meaning of ‘All Rights Reserved’ that is seen in most books with copyright. You have to receive a go ahead from the author before making use of their resources, especially if you want to use it for financial gains. But even at that, you will still make reference to the owner.
Summarily, plagiarism is concerned with ethics, while copyright is concerned with the law.
Why should you avoid plagiarism and copyright infringement?
These are, but not limited to the following:
1. Avoiding it protects your integrity;
2. You will be able to defend what you presented when questions are asked;
3. It helps to develop your mind and reasoning faculty;
4. It activates the spirit of ‘I can do it’ in you; and
5. It gives you a clear conscience.
Thank you for reading.
© Sunday Akinrelere
sunnysteve 