PLAGIARISM and COPYRIGHT LAWS

What every student needs to know…

Copyright Laws

protect any created material (print, audio, visual) as soon as it is created.

What is protected by copyright

• Books, articles, poems, stories and any other print material.

• TV and radio programs.

• Videos, DVD’s, tapes, CD’s ,slides, etc.

• Pictures, images, artwork, etc.

• Any created material including something you as a student have written even if you have not applied for copyright.

Plagiarism

The act of stealing (borrowing, using, copying) and passing off as one’s

own the ideas and words of another

Plagiarism is also

• using a created production without crediting the source. This means anything from TV, the radio, movies, and also from a computer.

To avoid plagiarism…..

Cite your sources (list where you got your info!)

Use quotation marks on exact words.

DO NOT:

• buy papers from the Internet or anyone else

• turn in another’s work as your own or copy from another person’s work

• have another person produce your work

• omit citations for any information in your work

• omit quotation marks when using exact words of someone

Make sure you do…..

• cite any source you use if paraphrasing or summarizing or if using an image,video or audio material

• use quotation marks when using the exact words found in a source

• cite your source for borrowed ideas even if put in your own words

So what writing won’t need citing? NOT MUCH!

• if your teacher does not require a list of sources for a short report or presentation

• when you analyze anything (literature) and are expected to give your own ideas and views or analysis of a situation

• common knowledge …..

Common knowledge is information that the majority of people already know

• dictionary definitions

• historical information that most people know- i.e. George Washington was our first president

• current information or news such as the World Trade Center was bombed in Sept. 11.

Take a short self test - which are OK????

• John copies a picture from an Internet site and includes the site in his list of sources.

• The band decides to play a song at the basketball game but it is not in the package Mr. Ferland purchased to use this year.

• Sally changes two words from an encyclopedia article and uses it for her report listing the article in her list of sources

More self-test….

• The junior class advertises that they are showing SHREK after school - admission just $1.

• Jeff starts his report with a dictionary definition of a common word but does not include the dictionary in his source list.

How to take notes to avoid plagiarism

• Use note cards with one topic from one source on each individual card

• If you don’t have cards, use a separate sheet of paper for each topic

• Read a paragraph or two and then close the page or turn away and write your notes only looking back to clarify facts

More ideas on note taking

• Write facts as briefly as possible and in your own words

• Write in short phrases rather than in sentences

• Try to avoid unnecessary adjectives and adverbs and abbreviate when possible

When using the Internet

• If note taking directly from the Internet to the computer program, minimize the site and then jot notes. Then minimize notes and return to the page. Again, use words and phrases, not sentences.

Skim and Scan

• Once you have progressed to your second, third, fourth, etc. source, skim and scan the information first.

• Do not take notes on the same material you derived from the first book or site - save time both reading and writing!

Use note cards or separate page for each topic - indicate source at top

• The First American

• Early life

• BF born 1-6-1705 - 1 of 10 kids

• parents - Josiah & Abiah

• in Boston, MA

• youngest

The First American

Early life

BF born 1-6-1705 - 1 of 10 kids

parents - Josiah & Abiahin Boston, MA

youngest

Leave room around edges for your comments

– The First

American

• Early life

• BF born 1-6-1705 - 1 of 10 kids

• parents - Josiah & Abiah

• in Boston, MA

• youngest

• • Use in intro

• This will help you organize cards later.The First American

Early life

BF born 1-6-1705 - 1 of 10 kids

parents - Josiah & Abiahin Boston, MA

youngest

Use in intro

Keep quotes exactly as they will appear in your paper and indicate page number where quote was found.

The First American

“Ben’s facility with the written word manifested itself early.” p. 16

The First American

“Ben’s facility for the written word manifested itself early.” p.16

Methods of paraphrasing

• Skim and scan your material looking for overall meaning and main ideas

• Read carefully and check meaning of words with which you are not familiar

• Review again if necessary

• Close or cover the source and write brief notes that stick to main ideas and pertinent details

The next step is checking for

• Accuracy - have I kept to the main ideas that the author is stating?

• Have I used my own words?

• Have I used quotes where needed and noted the source and page number on my note card?

An example from Big Dog’s MLA Quick Guide

• Original: Wuthering Heights is the

most remarkable novel in English. It is perfect, and perfect in the rarest way: it is the complete bodying forth of an intensely individual apprehension of the nature of man and life. That is to say, the content is strange enough, indeed baffling enough, while the artisitc expression of it is flawless. (Allen 223)

• In the next column, look at three versions of students’ writing taken from the original. Which is paraphrased best?

• Version 1: The most remarkable novel in English is Wuthering Heights. It brings forth an individual apprehension of the nature of man and life; therefore, it is perfect in the rarest way.

• Version 2: Wuthering Heights is a great English novel. It is perfect in the rarest way: It provides an individual apprehension of man’s nature.

• Version 3: Walter Allen insists that the “artistic expression” of Wuthering Heights is flawless (223). Allen admits that the content is strange and even baffling, but he argues that the novel is perfect……….

If, if if…… but, but, but

You just run out of time………….

You just don’t understand how to do it…………………

Your life is in a shambles and it’s just not happening…………………….

Ask for help!!!!!

• Better to be a day late and get a lower grade than a zero (try averaging zero into a number!) ……

• Better to be honest ………………..

• Better to try, do your best and maintain a good reputation……

• Than to cheat!

THE END