Plagiarism V.S. Copyright

By: Paula Pavlova

The 21st Century of Intellectually Property in

the Digital Age

“Copyright is a crime against the individual

(the source), plagiarism is widely

understood as a crime against the group (the

audience)” (Murray 174)

The change in technology has changed the way these laws work.

Bolter said that “electronic communication is increasingly the medium through which we form and maintain our affiliations (Bolter 204),” and similarly, our ideas.

This overlaps “fair use” of ideas with technology, blurring the once concrete laws of copyright and plagiarism.

The intentions of these laws make sense theoretically, but the result was not cohesive to the nature of art.

Plagiarism is the use of words, art, music, etc. without acknowledgement to the original creator. Copyright infringement is the same act but without permission. This is the separation between citation systems and market systems. “The goal of all participants [in the system] is free, cited circulation.”

“…with the larger goal of creating new ideas and arguments from the fabric of those already existing.” (Murray 176)

“NO ONE CREATES

IN A VACUUM”

(RIP!)

“If this is a crime, we have a whole generation of

criminals” –Lawrence Lessig (RiP!)

“Attribution of authorship is the highly personal connection between author and work, but the interest that copyright protects is the impersonal connection

between owner and property” –Laurie Stearns (Murray 176)

In his documentary Gaylor exemplifies that copyright has gotten out of control where the main goal is profit, ultimately at the public’s

expense.

“We have the right to repeat people’s words in order to hold them accountable, bring them into dialogue, or use them as a springboard.” (Murray 180)

“Just as apparently useless wetlands may be key to maintaining a healthy environment, copyright “loopholes” are microclimates that foster creativity, innovation, and democracy.” (Murray 180)

“Too much of what we now protect under the guise of authorship is not creativity or innovation, but merely investment. Too much of the world’s creativity is unrecognized, and when it is recognized, our global intellectual property regimes provide rights without recognizing the responsibilities that many peoples in world hold—responsibilities to others, to their ancestors, to future generations, and to the plants, animals, and spirits that occupy and animate the worlds they inhabit.” –Rosemary Coombe (Murray 177)

http://www.cargo-london.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/copyright1.jpg http://www.darknet.com/images/2007/09/05/copyright_fight.jpg http://blog.metasd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/opencontent.jpg http://www.erikjheels.com/Images/articles/2007-07-18-drawing-explains-copyright-830x470.png http://static.arstechnica.net/assets/2009/07/pirate-vs-gnu-thumb-640xauto-7273.jpg http://rashmanly.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/plagiarism.jpg http://www.theconnextion.com/disinformation/images/DIS54DVD_lg.jpg http://thefmly.com/www/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dsc_0261.jpg http://campuseventsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/girltalk-13.jpg http://www.themusikbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/thewhitepanda1.jpg http://www.masternewmedia.org/images/copyleft.jpg http://www.tshirtalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/without-pockets-intellectual-property.gif http://www.motiontouch.com/img/common/intellectual%20property%20audit.jpg http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc30/bobotronic/FLYERS/fusion_1_front.gif http://totallyambush.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/friendly-fires.jpg?w=301&h=378 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Wetlands_Cape_May_New_Jersey.jpg http://en.artoffer.com/_images_user/7684/88839/large/Nora-Vest-Technology-Abstract-art-Contemporary-Art-Contemporary-Art.jpg