Gil Maldonado EDTC 6340

The exclusive legal right, given to an originator or assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same. (Google definition)

Before reproducing material, such as making copies of a class set, permission is needed from the publisher or originator to publish, perform, distribute, or even translate it. Many teachers don’t know this law exists and are surprised once they find out!

Fair Use – According to United States law, Fair Use allows limited use of material that is copyrighted without the permission of the author or originator. Teach Act – The Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act allows teachers to use copyrighted material in face to face classroom settings.

A polite letter or an from the author of the material asking you politely to either remove the copyrighted material, or stop working on it immediately. A court order demanding that you stop distribution of the copyrighted material. Fines up to $100,000 US Dollars and even jail time, depending on the severity of the copyright infringement.

Taking someone else’s ideas and passing it as your owns. Plagiarism is very common in students nowadays. The website College Humor surveyed 30,000 college students on plagiarism. Their results were astonishing!

60.8% of students admitting to plagiarizing at least once while in college. 16.5% of these students didn’t regret it! 98% of plagiarizers began cheating in high school. 85% of these students said that cheating was essential! 95% of plagiarizers never get caught! Plagiarizers have higher GPA’s. Average non-cheater’s GPA was 2.85

Piracy – the reproduction of copyrighted material, such as books, audio recordings, video recordings, or invention. Most pirated materials are sold for profit. Maximum sentence for piracy is $250,000 US Dollars and up to five years in jail.

Technology has enabled students to not depend on only the school library to research. Online library databases and websites, now make it possible for students to find information on a given topic. However, students must give credit to the author of the online article or material in the final work. This is process is called “citing”.

Chmielewski, T. (n.d.). What Happens If Someone Breaks a Copyright Law? Retrieved July 18, Astonishing Stats on Academic Cheating | OEDB.org (2010, December 18). Retrieved July 18, 2015