We hear the plagiarism spiel just about every other day as
university students, and I think its pretty well knuckled down into our brain.
Using someone else’s work as your own without reference is plagiarism, you will
get caught, and there will be consequences. I don’t know about you, but I’ve
become pretty stringent with referencing and paraphrasing. With the plagiarism
gun pointing swiftly at my head with every assignment I submit, the temptation
of cheating is far outweighed by the unrelenting fear of being kicked out of
uni.
But what exactly is copyright violation? According to
Weatherall (2012) copyright infringement involves “traffic
in stolen movies, TV shows, and music or even counterfeit prescription
medications and other goods ... online havens for theft, enabling criminals to
profit from content or intellectual property they had nothing to do with
creating” (p. 110).
Unlike plagiarism, these thieves are not claiming the stolen
goods to be their own work, however, they are making money of someone else’s
hard work in an unmerited manner. While I’m not making money off any of my study
procrastination TV series downloads, how do I diverge myself from a copyright
thief? Or are we all thieves in our own right?
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| Retrieved from: http://www.mediainstitute.org/IPI/2011/052511.php |
Reflecting on all of this, what I found most interesting was
the fact that the threat of being caught for plagiarism stands much higher than
being caught for downloading a movie for me at least. Perhaps this is in part
due to the consequential action each violation incurs. As a student getting
caught for plagiarism seems highly likely, and the consequences are dire.
However, according to Gibson (2011) the chance of a copyright violator going to
jail is ‘highly unlikely’ (p. 1).
REFERENCE
Gibson, J 2011, Intellectual
Property Issues: Will you go to jail for copyright infringement?, http://www.mediainstitute.org/IPI/2011/052511.php,
accessed on 12/08/2013
Weatherall, K 2012, 'THE NEW (OLD) WAR ON COPYRIGHT
INFRINGEMENT, AND HOW CONTEXT IS OPENING NEW REGULATORY POSSIBILITIES',
Media International Australia (8/1/07-Current), 143, pp. 110-121, Communication
& Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost,
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoy reading your blog about the difference between plagiarism and copyright violation. Firstly, it was very clear and nice to show your understanding of plagiarism and quote the definition of copyright infringement (as well as the attached picture). Then you started to link it to your daily life and ask questions as “ how do I diverge myself from a copyright thief? Or are we all thieves in our own right”. I also feel confused by these questions and I believe that even the same person at different position will have different opinions on it. As a student, I enjoy watching online movies and books. I won’t blame the persons released those materials and only feel guilty or ashamed to use it for free from time to time. But if one day I become a moviemaker or a novel writer, copyright will weigh more definitely.
Enjoy bloging!
Violet
Hi Shannon,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting blog post to read because you raised some valid points and questions when it comes to plagiarising and copyright. I agree that as a student we are all very aware of the consequences of plagiarism and that it is continually told to us throughout our uni degrees!.
However, when it comes to copying or distributing movies, tv shows and music illegally I feel there is a large loop-hope in which people don't even know they are doing the wrong thing because there are so many rules when it comes to copyright.
This blog post is so very true in the all the comments you made about how there is a bigger threat for being caught for plagiariasm then actually being caught.
Unfortunately for the film and music industry this seems very unfair for them because of their hard work being distributed and copied illegally.
Thanks,
Prue McIntyre
Hey Shannon,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this reading your post. It was a solid start splitting the difference between plagiarism and copyright at the beginning of the post and then relating it to you self. The use of quotes and the picture to support your claim and then relating to how it affects you directly makes a strong impact. This worked well for your questions to differentiate what downloading movies to stealing others work and then also relating it to your own personal life. It’s a hard topic to discuss for an intended audience as everyone has different morals thus affecting their views on the matter. I think you approached it quite well.
thanks for the read
Nathan