Intellectual Property:Copyright & Plagiarism

Key Topics

• Intellectual Property – definition; link to copyright and plagiarism

• Copyright – overview, guidelines and resources

• Plagiarism – background, guidelines and examples

Current Reserch Environment

‘Academic/research institutions reward those with the longest CVs and the most publications. Under pressure to generate voluminous output, scientists often fall prey to double publishing, self plagiarism, and submitting the minimal publishable unit. Are these ethical gray areas, or true transgressions?’

Executive Editor Clin Invest. 2008 118(7): 2368

Definition – Intellectual Property Intellectual property (IP) is a number of distinct types of

legal monopolies over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; ideas, discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs.

Common types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets.

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property (accessed 08/22/09)

Intellectual Property

Plagiarism• Stealing another’s work• Not providing

attribution to the original author

• Paraphrasing without quoting

Copyright• Copyright law primarily

exists to balance a creator’s right to benefit from the reproduction of a work with the public’s right to advance knowledge and expression

What do plagiarism and copyright have in common?

Authorship!

There are exemptions in the copyright act that provide for certain exceptions to the exclusive rights - many in favor of limited nonprofit educational purposes.

• Quoting extensively from a book without the copyright holder's permission would likely be copyright infringement

• Extensive copying with permission but without attribution (citations) would be plagiarism but not copyright infringement

• Extensive quoting without permission and without attribution would be infringement and plagiarism

North Carolina State University Libraries. Plagiarism Tutorial http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/dspc/tutorial/plagiarism/index.html

(accessed 4/17/10)

Copyright: Getting Started

• Compile & organize information on system-wide or campus policies, guidelines and resources on copyright

• Review literature and web resources on copyright issues in higher education, on non-profit, for-profit corporations

• Research literature about copyright legislation, case law & legal opinions

Copyright Law in 5 Minutes or Less• Protection provided to the authors of original

literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works

• Protection is automatic once fixed in a tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed (written, filmed, recorded, etc.)

• Doesn’t require:– Copyright notice– Publication– Registration with the Copyright Office or any

other body

What rights do copyright provide?• Original creators of works protected by copyright, and

their heirs, have certain basic rights. They hold the exclusive right to use or authorize others to use the work on agreed terms. The creator of a work can prohibit or authorize:– its reproduction in various forms, such as printed

publication or sound recording– its public performance, as in a play or musical work– recordings of it, for example, in the form of compact

discs, cassettes or videotapes– its broadcasting, by radio, cable or satellite– its translation into other languages, or its adaptation,

such as a novel into a screenplay

http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/faq/faqs.htm#rights (accessed 8/21/09)

Copyright & Electronic Journals• Electronic journals are protected by copyright law in the same way

as printed journals• Their use is subject to the terms of a license agreed between the

institution and the publisher which permits certain activities and forbids others

• For the Research4Life programs, users can copy up to 15% of a journal issue, distribute to colleagues within the institution and use for educational purposes

• Users cannot distribute copies to individuals outside the institution, change the content, load material on a publically accessible server or use for profit

See HINARI ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ document for further detailshttp://www.who.int/hinari/training/dosanddont/en/index.html

Are ideas, methods or concepts protected by copyright?

• Copyright protection extends only to expressions, and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such.

• This principle has been confirmed by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as the WIPO Copyright Treaty http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/wct/trtdocs_wo033.html

http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/faq/faqs.htm#rights (accessed 08/21/09)

What about international copyright issues?

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva can assist with the understanding copyrights http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/faq/faqs.htm#rights

• Countries may have a national copyright office or its own national laws pertaining to copyright

• Some countries are members of the Berne and Rome Conventions which protect author’s rightshttp://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/berne/index.htmlhttp://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/rome/index.html

Additional International Copyright Information

• What is the rule concerning copyright and related rights in my country?– Some countries treaties are ‘self-executive’, meaning

that the provisions of treaties can be directly applied as law

– In general, national legislation of individual countries provide copyright law and related rights

– International treaties link various national laws by ensuring that at least a minimum level of rights will be granted to creators under each national law

– The treaties do not themselves grant rights, but require the countries that join the treaties to grant certain rights specified on a nondiscriminatory basis

– Copyright laws of a wide range of countries can be found in the Collection of Laws for Electronic Access (CLEA) http://www.wipo.int/clea/en/ database of WIPO. For further information, you can also contact national copyright offices http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/urls.jsp

http://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/faq/faqs.htm#rights (accessed 8/21/09)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CPjC5DPMGhs/R4c- Z6njI/AAAAAAAAAG0/CLqjRDQF0cg/s320/plagiarism600pxw.jpg(accessed 08/21/09)

Plagiarism: What is it?What does it look like? How to avoid it.

Plagiarism: Awareness & Attitudes

• How do you define plagiarism?• What is your attitude toward plagiarism?• Does your institution have internal policies on

plagiarism?

Plagiarism: what is it? Awareness:

• Copying text without using quotation marks or acknowledging source (extensive copying leads to copyright infringement and legal consequences)

• Slightly changing the passage (paraphrasing) so it looks like an original idea

• Citing source, but not using quotation marks or a page reference

• Summarizing without insight and/or citing

• Duplicating your own, or some one else’s work

• Fraud: submitting a paper written by someone else• Patchwriting: using words and phrases from a source text (that may or may not be acknowledged), and patching them together into new sentences • Failure to cite: not acknowledging the sources of words or concepts • Failure to quote: not providing quotation marks or block quotes for direct quotation

Expanded from Professor Rebecca Moore Howard ,University of Maryland's University College, on Preventing and Detecting Plagiarism in the Digital Environment, http://library.raritanval.edu/faculty/plagiarism/definition.asp, (accessed 06/04/08)

Plagiarism Includes

Plagiarism = Academic DishonestyNo matter intentional or unintentional

• ‘Unintentional’– Collaborative work on a paper must be acknowledged– Reworking a submitted paper for another journal

• ‘Intentional’– To copy a work, or part of a work directly from a source,

word for word, without citing it– To submit a paper written by another person– To intersperse works of another within your work without

giving credit

Library Plagiarism Policies Manhattanville College., p. 68. 2007

http://www.neiu.edu/~ejhowens/plagiarism/plagiarism.jpg(accessed 08/21/09)

Plagiarism in the Sciences• Making up data or results (fabrication)• Changing or misreporting data or results (falsification)• Using the ideas or words of another person without

giving appropriate credit (plagiarism)

‘These three issues strike at the heart of the values on which science is based. …even infractions that may seem minor at the time can end up being severely punished.’

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), & NetLibrary, Inc. (1995). On being a scientist; responsible conduct in research. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, p.16.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4917&page=16 (accessed 08/20/09)

What does plagiarism look like?

William Meehan’s dissertation. Highlights are copied verbatim from Carl Boening’s dissertation.

On Vizworldhttp://www.vizworld.com/2009/06/what-does-plagiarism-look-like/(accessed 09/05/08)

• If you use four lines, block quote indented 2.5 cm or 1” from each margin and cite source

• 2/3 your words, 1/3 authors for summarizing safety

• Even if you don’t use words verbatim, you must cite if you use the author’s ideas

• If you reference a scientific concept that is not commonly known, cite the source

• You do not need to cite if you are using universally understood concepts or common knowledge

• When in doubt, CITE Adapted in part from PLAGIARISM. What is it? http://bahealthsci.phhp.ufl.edu/tools/PLAGIARISM.ppt

(accessed 08/21/09)

Basic Guidelines

Plagiarism Don’ts

• Cut & paste from electronic/Internet sources without using quotes, or properly citing the source

• Have others write the paper for you• Download audio, visual, or arts without

proper permission (Copyright issues)

• Quote statistics/facts without citing the source, unless common knowledge

What does plagiarism look like?

• NY Times, Oct. 3, 2004: Spin City (original) ‘From the vantage point of a bike, the city presents itself

as a savorable panorama passing by at a speed somewhere between the blur outside a car window and the plodding pace of walking.’

• Gazette, July 2, 2009: Bicycle safety a hit-or-miss proposition in Springs (plagiarized sentence)

‘From the vantage point of a bicycle, the city presents itself as a panorama passing by at a speed somewhere between the blur outside a car window and the plodding pace of walking.’

http://www.gazette.com/articles/gazette-58112-stories-four.html (accessed 08/20/09)

What does plagiarism look like?• NY Times, April 26, 1987: New Zealanders thrive on U.S.

sheep shearing (original) ‘With a heave, John Burt pulled the sheep on its back and

pinned it between his legs. Then, reaching for his clippers, he went to work.’

• Gazette, June 6, 2009: It's time for Colorado's sheep to get a trim (plagiarized sentences)

‘With a little persuasion, Bob Schroth pulled the sheep onto its back and pinned it between his legs. Then, reaching for his clippers, he went to work.’

http://www.gazette.com/articles/gazette-58112-stories-four.html (accessed 08/20/09)

How is Plagiarism Investigated?

http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/publications/pubtoolsandpolicyinfo/Investigating_Plagiarism_Complaints.pdf(accessed 8/24/09)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CPjC5DPMGhs/R4dBJ8Z6nkI/AAAAAAAAAG8/BjB6ACI8qOs/s1600-h/Plagiarism.jpg(accessed 08/21/09)

‘May is a second-year graduate student preparing the written portion of her qualifying exam. She incorporates whole sentences and paragraphs verbatim from several published papers. She does not use quotation marks, but the sources are suggested by statements like (see . . . for more details). Additionally, the faculty on the qualifying exam committee note inconsistencies in the writing styles of different paragraphs of the text and check the sources.’• What are the signs of plagiarism in this case?•What about the authors’ works from which are copied without credit? Is it fair? Is it ethical?

Adapted from ‘On Being a Scientist’ p. 18http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4917&page=18(accessed 08/21/09)

A Case Study

Plagiarism Resources

• Duke University Libraries: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarismhttp://library.duke.edu/research/plagiarism/

• DePauw University: Avoiding Plagiarismhttp://www.depauw.edu/admin/arc/w-center/plag.asp

• University of California/Davis: Avoiding Plagiarismhttp://sja.ucdavis.edu/files/plagiarism.pdf

• University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill: Plagiarism http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html

Online Tutorials

• Acadia University: ‘You Quote it, you note it!’http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/

• Indiana University: How to Recognize Plagiarismhttps://www.indiana.edu/~istd/

Module adapted from material originally developed by: Michelle Foss

Science & Technology Librarian Marston Science Library University of Florida

Stephanie Haas University Librarian Marston Science Library University of Florida

Hands On Activities

We now will proceed to the ‘Hands On Activities’ for the Intellectual Property module.

Last Updated 04 2010

http://arushaproject.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/chalkboard.jpg(accessed 08/21/09)