PLAGIARISM OR COPYRIGHT VIOLATION???  WHAT'S IN A WORD? 

Sally Cheeseman's article HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A PLAGIARISER? is MUST reading for ActiveRain members. 

Sally's post is timely notice to ActiveRain members who steal or infringe on the literary or artistic creations of others.  However, I have long felt that there is too much focus on the word plagiarism. 

I believe that one of the problems is the use of the word plagiarism. 

CALL IT WHAT IT IS!  A VIOLATION OF THE LAW.

I prefer to use the term copyright violation, or, copyright infringement.

"Violation or infringement" are far easier to understand.  Warnings about plagiarism may not get their attention if they are not aware of the meaning.

"Plagiarism" denotes the illegal use of another's writings.  Copyright violation or infringement applies to all published material, writings, photos, graphics, etc. of a writer, photographer, artist, filmographer, or others who create and publish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  THE LAW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT? 

• • What Is Copyright?
  Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States

• (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of "original works of authorship," including
• literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE LAW IS GOING IN THE DIRECTION OF STIFFER PENALTIES INCLUDING CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.

MORE. . . .

copyright: COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS NOT A FORM OF FLATTERY! - 05/19/09 05:29 AM Inspired by a thoughtful post by Jacob Clayton, it's time for an attitude change about copyright infringement. Folks who have had their copyright protected content (any original writing, image, photo, video, etc.) copied and published by another person, usually have pretty typical reactions: Shock! Sick to the stomach! Disbelief! Anger! WE ARE NOT FLATTERED!  Are ... (52 comments)

copyright: ALERT! HOW TO AVOID BECOMING INFECTED WITH "THE RIGHT CLICK SYNDROME". - 04/12/09 09:28 AM WHAT' IS "THE RIGHT CLICK SYNDROME"?   Is it contagious?   How do I know if I have been infected?  How do others know if I'm infected? How long does it last? What can I do to recover? Are there any lasting effects? Will others know I'm infected? WHAT IS "THE RIGHT CLICK SYNDROME"?  The right ... (89 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT RAMBLINGS BY REQUEST. Subtitle, WRITE THE DAMN THING YOURSELF! - 02/09/09 08:00 AM                                            * * * *  HARD CORE COPYRIGHT TALK * * * * Karen Monsour requested that I respond to her post Is this (Copyright© 2009 Karen L. Monsour, All Rights Reserved.) necessary at the end of my AR blog? SO. . . . . .  I'm no expert and don't give ... (91 comments)

copyright: PLEASE DON'T PUT COPYRIGHT PROTECTED CARTOONS IN COMMENTS ON MY BLOG. - 02/02/09 05:29 PM I GOT A NICE COMMENT ON ONE OF MY POSTS TODAY that included a large cartoon. The cartoon was clearly a professionally produced and syndicated one.  If the cartoon has been purchased for republish, there was no notice.  If the cartoon has been purchased for any use, there was no notice. If ... (26 comments)

copyright: IF YOU'VE BEEN VIOLATED BY A COPYRIGHT THIEF, DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT! - 11/26/08 03:15 PM This post inspired by Tracy Santrock's excellent post describing her experience discovering that her content had been stolen and used by a competitor.   I could surely identify with her feelings of shock, disappointment and finally outrage.  I have felt those same emotions many times, each time I discover one of my location ... (37 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT. I KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO HATE ME NOW! - 11/06/08 09:53 AM CAN or SHOULD YOU USE VIDEOS FROM YOUTUBE.COM?  FROM THE YOUTUBE COMMUNITY GUIDELINES: Respect copyright.  Only upload videos that you made or that you are authorized to use. This means don't upload videos you didn't make, . . . . More. . . . . Copyright Guideline.   When you create something ... (77 comments)

copyright: DON'T BE TRICKED BY WIKIPEDIA! Just because you believe it is in the "Public Domain" doesn't mean that it is. Even when someone says it is. - 09/11/08 02:30 PM COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS A SERIOUS VIOLATION OF THE LAW.  What is copyright?Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works.  More . . . (c) Statutory ... (40 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT DAMAGES SETTLED. - 08/27/08 07:14 PM The recent posts about Copyright by Carole Provenzale last week was very timely.  At the time I read the post, I had three copyright infringement cases going.  One just settled Monday of this week. The only way to stop copyright violators is to make them pay.  The violator in the case ... (41 comments)

copyright: HOW TO "STAKE YOURSELF OUT" AND WAIT FOR THE COPYRIGHT STAMPEDE - 07/02/08 12:28 PM IT'S COPYRIGHT TIME AGAIN.  This post inspired by Robert Lockhard, Bloggers beware! Copyright battle might be coming. Fair Use?  Or, an invitation to a Cease and Desist Notice and Demand for Damages? From Title 17 of the U.S. Code:  Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the ... (68 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT WARNING: DON'T LET A $1,000 DAMAGE DEMAND TURN INTO A $15,000 SETTLEMENT! - 06/04/08 12:00 PM GUIDE FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND BROKERS WITH WEB SITES. RULE #1.  Don't use Lenn's maps on your web page. RULE #2.  When you are contacted by the map owner, don't ignore them. RULE #3.  When you are noticed of a settlement offer of $1,000, take it. RULE #4.  When you ... (101 comments)

copyright: PLAGIARISM, COPYRIGHT AND GOOGLE JUICE - 12/13/07 08:32 AM IGNORANCE OF THE COPYRIGHT LAW IS NO EXCUSE.  ANYWAY, WE DON'T BUY IT.                     * * * *  DANGER:  HARD CORE COPYRIGHT TALK AHEAD  * * * * THINGS LEARNED IN 7TH GRADE ENGLISH CLASSMrs. Kennedy, my 7th Grade English Teacher, was known for her tough grading, strict class discipline and heavy homework assignments.  ... (67 comments)

copyright: MY FIRST ACTIVE RAIN POST WAS ABOUT - YES! COPYRIGHT - 10/13/07 08:41 AM "The more things change, the more they stay the same."Yesterday, I filed my tax return for 2006.  Included as income for 2006 was $48,000 for money received for damages for copyright infringement.  This has been the average amount collected for the past 4 years.  In the future, statutory damages should be ... (20 comments)

copyright: JURY FINDS FOR MUSIC COMPANY IN COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT - October 5, 2007 - 10/08/07 06:07 PM THE JUST HAS SPOKEN in a landmark copyright lawsuit.  Duluth, Minn. (AHN) - A Minnesota mother of two must pay $222,000 to several record publishers after a jury Thursday here found her guilty of illegally sharing 24 songs. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008735318 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/04/business/NA-FIN-US-Downloading-Music.php Things just got a lot hotter for folks who believe that they can ... (10 comments)

copyright: COURT SAYS MLS IS A FORUM FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS - 08/22/07 06:53 AM MUST READ - MLS IS for BROKERS TO SHARE INFORMATION - IT IS NOT PUBLIC INFORMATION[Decision] Filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Florida June 21, 2007Appeals from the United States District Courtfor the Southern District of FloridaBUC Int�l Corp. v. Int�l Yacht Council Ltd. "The vessel listings in the BUCNET database ... (32 comments)

copyright: IMAGES FOUND ON ACTIVE RAIN MEMBER'S POSTS ARE NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN - UPDATE - 08/13/07 07:10 AM UPDATE:  I just returned from delivering a check for a buyer and find that the person who put my image on her blog profile and post has removed them.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that she wants me to send her a link where it says it is ... (42 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT WARNING: A SNIPPET IS NOT 100 WORDS. - 08/09/07 08:56 AM WHAT'S A SNIPPET?Recent articles with information about the latest hot topic, mortgages and will anyone every get one again,have led to some powerful reading and some very powerful writing.  Unfortunately, it has also led to some,what I believe are (1) copyright violations, and (2) borderline duplicate content.  When researching a topic ... (22 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT REVISITED, OR IS IT RECYCLED. Correcting Misinformation. - 07/14/07 01:48 PM ACTIVE RAIN MEMBERS WHO COMMENT ON COPYRIGHT SHOULD FIRST READ THE OFFICIAL COPYRIGHT OFFICE WEB SITE.  Checking my Active Rain messages this morning showed a comment made just yesterday about an article I posted about COPYRIGHT on August 13, 2006.  The comment was so wrong, wrong, wrong.               "You make a great caase for copyrighted material.  But ... (59 comments)

copyright: THE COST OF COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION - UP 50% - 07/05/07 05:48 PM GOOD GRIEF! I just got a collection of maps together to prepare Copyright registrations and find that since the last time I registered a collection of maps, which was early 2006, The cost has increased from $30 each to $45 each.  Ouch.  The Copyright office considered raising the cost of Copyright for ... (20 comments)

copyright: YOU CANNOT "REPRINT" ON ACTIVE RAIN. IT IS COPYRGHT INFRINGEMENT - 06/18/07 08:38 AM RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT COPYRIGHT, INFRINGEMENT, ACTIVE RAIN POSTS, ATTRIBUTION, LINKS AND SNIPPETS.    It appears that a RAINER got a post deleted because 99% of the post was not written by the member.  This is a gray area to many, but copyright is really simple.  The creator or writer of an article is the ... (116 comments)

copyright: IF ONE GETS CAUGHT STEALING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, SOMETIMES IT'S BEST TO PAY UP QUICKLY - 06/02/07 09:09 PM WHAT MAKES FOLKS THINK THAT THEY CAN JUST "TAKE" CONTENT OR IMAGES FROM OUR WEB SITES???  NOTICE to anyone on the web who might consider taking one of my images to use on their web site - DON'T NOTICE to anyone on the web who might consider taking content from any ... (24 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT REVISITED with AN INTERESTING ANGLE - 03/08/07 09:19 AM My latest adventure in copyright protection enforcement has taken a very interesting turn.  A local agent recently got caught with one of my maps on her web site.  This is a local agent of a national company.  The agent and her broker are presenting a new problem.  While my map is no longer on ... (65 comments)

copyright: JUST BECAUSE IT'S ON YAHOO OR GOOGLE DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN USE IT - 12/30/06 07:15 AM                                                                         DANGER, WILL ROBINSON   *   DANGER, WILL ROBINSON  *  DANGER, WILL ROBINSON WILL FOLKS, PLEASE, PLEASE, GET THE MESSAGE - JUST BECAUSE YOU SEE SOMETHING ON YAHOO, GOOGLE OR ANY OTHER PLACE ON THE INTERNET, DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU CAN JUST TAKE IT AND USE IT.  IF YOU DIDN'T CREATE IT, MAKE IT, WRITE ... (18 comments)

copyright: IMAGES, PHOTOS AND ICONS - 12/08/06 04:24 PM John Hruska complimented my Door Mat image and mistook it for "Clip Art".  I don't use Clip Art because I have a massive collection of photos and graphic images.  Remember the "Crab Images"?                          I have had photos and graphics stored on my hard drives, CDs and numberous Floppies for years.  I ... (2 comments)

copyright: A SOLDIER IN THE COPYRIGHT BATTLE - 11/12/06 03:12 PM KRISTAL, YOU JUST MADE MY DAY ! ! ! ! I just read a helpful post by Jim Lee about tracking copyright violators through Google search.  One of the comments was from Kristal Kraft who posted that she is pursuing copyright violators.  Thank you Kristal.  It's been lonely out here.  I know that ... (32 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT CONFUSION III and CRAB IMAGES - 11/06/06 03:53 PM Many questions from the first copyright blog has kept this string going.  This should be the last.  I'll try to answer them below, but remember, I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY OR COPYRIGHT EXPERT.  I'm a real estate broker who has had some experience protecting my copyrights and collecting damages from folks ... (6 comments)

copyright: COPYRIGHT CONFUSION - FOLLOW UP - 11/05/06 04:19 PM <!--StartFragment -->I got some questions about my last blog about copyright.  NO, you cannot copy articles and use them as long as you credit the writer (copyright owner).This is the part of the copyright law that permits publishers, critics, etc. to use a short except or snippit when giving a review ... (4 comments)

copyright: IS THERE REALLY COPYRIGHT CONFUSION? - 11/05/06 10:21 AM WHAT IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED?  There has been some blogging about copyright this week, so, although I AM NO COPYRIGHT EXPERT, I have some experience in the matter.    If folks have any confusion about copyright, don't be concerned about what you don't know.  Just think about what you DO know.  A person may not know if a ... (22 comments)

copyright: Copyright and Real Estate Web Sites, My Experience - 08/13/06 06:36 PM Copyright has been an abiding interest since I first discovered a number of maps copyright protected by me on another agent's web site.  In fact, 13 unique maps from my web page were boldly used on another agent's web page - without my knowledge or permission.  What made the discovery so ... (38 comments)