LibAnswers

Copyright is a legal concept that gives creators of original works exclusive rights to use and distribute their creations. These rights are designed to protect the creator's intellectual property and encourage creativity by ensuring they can benefit from their work. For more information on Copyright, Libguides for students and faculty are linked below. 

Are plagiarism and copyright infringement the same? 

Plagiarism and copyright infringement are not the same thing, though they can overlap. Plagiarism is an ethical issue, primarily concerning academic dishonesty and proper attribution of sources, while copyright infringement is a legal issue involving violation of a creator's exclusive rights over their work.

• It is possible to plagiarize without infringing copyright (e.g., using an idea from a public domain work) or to infringe copyright without plagiarizing (e.g., properly citing a copyrighted source but still violating the copyright holder's exclusive rights.)

• A single act can be both plagiarism and copyright infringement. For example, using someone else's copyrighted text without permission and claiming it as your own is both plagiarism and copyright infringement.