Plagiarism & Copyright Infringement
Plagiarism and copyright infringement was the topic of my Ph.D. dissertation, and the best way to understand what is considered public domain and fair use is to go to the Copyright Office and read the documentation there.
That said, reading government documentation from the copyright office is not always easy, so many organizations and groups of people try to make understanding easier by providing charts or easy-to-read-and-follow discussions or lists. I share these works for it is my goal to help others avoid plagiarism and/or copyright infringement.
“A Basic Guide to Getting Permissions + Sample Permissions Letter.”
Jane Friedman does a fantastic job here, providing both an easy-to-follow graphic and then follows with a detailed description of when you need to request permission to use someone else’s work.
How Do You Know If Something Is In The Public Domain?
This blog on Visme includes five different important topics all within one article, “Can I Use That Image?: How to Legally Use Copyrighted Images,” written by Samantha Lile. Within the article are these topics:
- Can I Use That Picture? This section includes a graphic that helps you determine whether you need to seek permission or not.
- Understand Types of Image Licenses
- Correctly Use Creative Commons Licenses – especially important for anyone using purchased photos or graphics and understanding the type of license you are purchasing.
- Utilize Images Within The Public Domain – Important discussion about understanding when something is in the public domain and when it’s not.
- Understanding Types of Images Used – All images are not the same, therefore they cannot be treated the same.
- What is Fair Use? – This term is one of the most misunderstood and often used incorrectly. There are many different interpretations, and this site provides a good interpretation.
Why Giving Credit is Important 
Jeremiah Morelli’s webpage content is critically important to anyone using art on their websites. He uses his own work, “The Reader’s Path,” one of my favorite works of art, as an example of how and where it has been used online.
To order “The Reader’s Path,” go to his website by clicking here.