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 to Find Out if Something Is In The Public Domain”
Written by Mara Shannon provides instructions on how to determine if a project you want to use is in the public domain or not. If it’s in public domain, you do not need permission to use it. If it is not in the public domain, you need to get permission from the creator in order to use.
“What Do Public Domain & Creative Commons Mean?”
From the Harvard Law School Library, this web page provides how-to information and links regarding licenses, images, music, documents and more. Definitely a page to explore to learn how to properly use the works of other creators.
Teaching Students About Plagiarism: What It Looks Like and How It Is Measured
This link goes to my dissertation, which is a case study that examines how plagiarism is taught, what teachers do when it is encountered, and questions why students are expected to know what plagiarism is when they enter college, and yet there is no assessment to determine if a student actually understands what it means to plagiarize. This study further questions who is in charge of teaching how to avoid plagiarism, how to ensure it’s taught correctly, and questions whether students should be tested to determine their knowledge about plagiarism. To see the Table of Contents, click here.