Assignment 3: Copying Your Way Up the Social Ladder?

Whenever the term, copyright infringement gets brought up, what pops into your head?

Let’s begin by clarifying what constitutes as infringement by referencing one of everybody's favorite research sites, wikipedia: Infringement refers to the violation of a law or a right, which means that copyright infringement, is considered to be violating the laws of copyrighting, or, in general terms of speaking, “the right to copy.”

Now that the meaning of copyright infringement has been clarified, what are some examples of these copyright laws that can and often do get broken?

When talking about different copyright laws, there are numerous different categories that they can be broken into:

1. music copyright laws
2. internet copyright laws
3. photo copyright laws
4. software copyright laws
5. movie copyright laws

What are not included in these categories, however, are the copyright laws that college students violate time and time again, despite the consequences. These laws include the very serious violation of plagiarism. The dictionary describes plagiarism as the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work. College students, specifically, have been known to plagiarize for college entry essays, scholarship essays, and even for something as little as class papers. This plagiarism can range from a few, simple sentences without citations to whole papers being written for people in exchange for money. [cite western courier]. So what are the consequences for these people who do decide to plagiarize? Here at UB, the Academic Integrity Policy states that, when and if a student is caught using any work besides his or her own, the professor has the authority to do any of the following:

1. Warning. Written notice to the student that he/she has violated a university academic integrity standard and that the repetition of the wrongful conduct may be cause for more severe sanctions.
2. Revision of Work. Requiring the student to replace or revise the work in which dishonesty occurred. (The instructor may choose to assign a grade of "I" [Incomplete] pending replacement or revision of the work.)
3. Reduction in Grade. With respect to the particular assignment/exam or final grade in the course.
4. Failure in the Course. To be indicated on the transcript by a grade of "F" without comment.
5. Such other reasonable and appropriate sanction(s) as may be determined by the instructor (or committee at later levels of review) with the exception of those subsequently described under #6.
6. Recommendation of any of the following University sanctions (these require approval at the department, college/school, and Vice Provost levels).
7. Failure in the Course with Citation of Academic Dishonesty: To be indicated by an "F" on the transcript with the notation that the grade of "F" was assigned for reason of academic dishonesty. Only the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education or his or her designee may impose this sanction.
8. Suspension from the University: For a definite term upon stated conditions. Only the University President or his/her designee may suspend a student from the University.
9. Expulsion from the University: With comment on the transcript. Only the University President or his/her designee may expel a student from the University.

Considering all these consequences, you may be asking yourself, why would somebody risk these consequences by not using their own work? Well, I believe that, in this day and age, it’s getting more and more difficult to get ahead in life, especially considering the increase in competition to get into grad school and even after college. Because of this, I think that students are using others’ work in order to get that extra step ahead. Now that technology has come to a point where books are almost no longer needed, the internet is making it much easier for students to plagiarize. The internet makes information on an infinite number of subjects that The Western Courier of Western Illinois University has found have become more accessible to students than ever before, including access to online companies that will charge people for pre-written papers on any subject. This is where plagiarism and Internet copyright laws collide.

Even though this type of copyright infringement occurs all the time, it is unfortunate that the interests of the content creators and of the public good have already been accommodated, only helping the problem and not completely diminishing it. This has been done by the use of citations. Think back on how much you use other people’s work; have you always cited it? What if it were only one sentence taken from a different source? Law says that you much cite it, but did you? The technical structures in order to do this are basically handed to us, making citing such an easy task. Knowledge of copyright laws as well as the correct citing skills are pushed on us in basically every class we take, meaning that an educated society is needed in order for plagiarism to become a less occurring offense. A higher education means a higher social status, so why not become a part of the highly educated population and climb up the social ladder honestly instead of taking advantage of what others have worked hard for themselves in order to climb their own way to the top?

Citations:

(2007, April 18). Academic Integrity. Retrieved September 14, 2007, from Undergraduate Catalog 2007-2008 Web site:
http://undergrad-catalog.buffalo.edu/policies/course/integrity.shtml

(2007, Sept 11). Copyright Infringement. Retrieved September 14, 2007, from Wikipedia Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement

O'Kray, Matt (2002, April 24). Plagiarism plagues college students' essays. Retrieved September 14, 2007, from The Western Courier Web site: http://media.www.
westerncourier.com/media/storage/paper650/news/2002/04/24/Plagiarism.Plagues.
College.Students.Essays-442188.shtml

plagiarism. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved September 14, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plagiarism