| | | Copyright |
If you saw a diamond lying in the street, would you pick up the gem and keep it? The issue here is that even though you have the capability to grab something and put it in your pocket, you may be abusing another person's rights by doing do.
In academia, there are two different sins to avoid. Plagiarism is the representation of another person's words or ideas as your own. This is always wrong, even if the other person gives you permission. Copyright infringement is the use of another person's work without permission, even if you attribute the source. This is generally proscribed, but there are some legal provisions for "fair use."
The issue of copyright is a bit clouded where the World-Wide Web is concerned. Presumably, materials on the World-Wide Web are there because the creators want their work to be seen. Nonetheless, intellectual property rights do inhere in works on the World-Wide Web.
Formerly, a work had to bear a copyright notice to be protected under United States copyright law. Under current law, however, protection inheres automatically in textual, graphical, audio-visual, and architectural works once they are "fixed in a tangible form". Consequently, just because you can grab something off the World-Wide Web does not mean that it is in the public domain. In principle, you should request permission from the work's creator before you use it.
For further information, consult the Copyright Website and the Copyright & Fair Use Site at Stanford University Libraries.
The Math 696 course
pages were last modified April 5, 2005. | | | Copyright |