Copyright, Plagiarism, and Fair Use

According to Copyright.org ,"Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances." Section 107 of the Copyright Act discusses these four factors in evaluating a question of fair use:

• Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes: If you are using a copyrighted work for a nonprofit educational or noncommercial use it if usually fair; however, courts will look at it on a case to case basis. Courts look at how the party claiming fair use is using the copyrighted work, and are more likely to find that nonprofit educational and noncommercial uses are fair.
• Nature of the copyrighted work: If you use a more creative or imaginative work (such as a novel, movie, or song) is less likely to plead a claim of a fair use than using a factual work (such as a technical article or news item). Also, use of an unpublished work is less likely to be considered fair.
• Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole: Under this element, courts look at both the quantity and quality of the copyrighted material that was used. If the party uses the entire portion of the copyrighted material, it is less likely to be considered fair use. However, if you use a small portion, but it is the most important part of the piece, it still may not be considered fair.
• Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work: Under this, courts examine if the use of the copyrighted material could cause harm to the future of the copyright owner's original work. Courts also review whether the unlicensed use could take sales of the copyright owner's incoming sales.

Reference:Office, U. C. (n.d.). More Information on Fair Use | U.S. Copyright Office. Retrieved May 21, 2017, from https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary online plagiarizing is , "the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person or an act of copying the ideas or words of another person without giving credit to that person."

Plagiarism.org gives this list of what constitutes as plagiarism:

• turning in someone else's work as your own
• copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
• failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
• giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
• changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
• copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on "fair use" rules)

Reference:Plagiarize. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2017, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarize

Reference:What is Plagiarism? (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2017, from http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/