Creating original work is not easy. It takes lots of hard work and passion. For this reason, any creation is considered intellectual property.
However, the original creator gets deprived of his work when anyone steals his idea and takes commercial and academic benefits from it.
Even though copyright infringement and plagiarism are considered intellectual theft, their implication affects the original creator differently.
Due to copyright infringement, various businesses and copyright holders lose millions of dollars annually.
While due to plagiarism, various talented author and artist lose their diligent credit.
For this reason, many people believe copyright infringement and plagiarism are the same things. However, both of these activities are different.
Key Takeaways
- Copyright infringement occurs when someone uses copyrighted material without permission, violating the copyright holder’s exclusive rights. At the same time, plagiarism involves presenting someone else’s work or ideas as one’s own without proper attribution.
- Copyright infringement is a legal issue, subject to civil or criminal penalties, whereas plagiarism is an ethical issue, often resulting in academic or professional consequences.
- Plagiarism can be committed unintentionally, whereas copyright infringement generally requires the deliberate use of copyrighted material without permission, although penalties may apply in cases of accidental infringement.
Copyright Infringement vs Plagiarism
Copyright infringement involves unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of copyrighted material, violating the rights of the copyright holder. Plagiarism, however, is the act of presenting someone else’s work as one’s own without proper attribution, which is unethical and can tarnish reputations.
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Comparison Table
| Parameter of Comparison | Copyright Infringement | Plagiarism |
|---|---|---|
| What is | Using the copyright holder’s work without his permission. | I was using another person’s work without attributing anything to it. |
| Loss | Monetary loss | Do not get diligent credit |
| Offence | Criminal offence | Noncriminal offence |
| Common terminology | Piracy, freebooting, and intellectual property theft. | Literary forgery, art forgery, and pseudepigrapha. |
| Punishment | Punished with a fine or even a jail sentence. | Various sanctions, substantial fines, suspension, and even expel someone from school for plagiarism. |
| How to avoid | Taking permission from the copyright holder or license for using the work. | I am giving attribution to the source or modifying the original work appropriately. |
What is Copyright Infringement?
Copyright infringement is when someone uses a copyright holder’s work without permission.
Generally, the copyright holder can be the creator, publisher, or any business entity with the right to reproduce, distribute, and display the work.
Any dispute regarding copyright infringement between two parties can be resolved through litigation in civil court or through direct negotiation.
However, the criminal justice system takes over the case when someone does copyright infringement on a large scale.
Copyright infringement is a criminal activity, and it is punishable by law.
The person associated with this activity can be punished with a fine or even a jail sentence.
However, the degree of punishment depends on the law of the land and varies upon the country.
Common terminologies associated with copyright infringement are piracy, freebooting, and intellectual property theft. Copyright infringement heavily damages the media industry.
Especially those companies associated with the motion picture, music, and software industries.
Copyright infringement can be avoided if anyone takes permission from the copyright holder to use the work.
The publisher or creator may create a licensing program for distributing copyright permission.
Many Anti-copyright infringement organizations are working to stop this illegal practice.
Some of these agencies are the International Intellectual Property Alliance(IIPA), Federation Against Copyright Theft(FACT), Federation Against Software Theft(FAST), and Entertainment Software Association(ESA).
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is when someone uses another person’s work without attributing anything and claims it as his creation.
Plagiarism is an ethical issue, and it is considered intellectual fraudulence.
Plagiarism is not considered a legal crime, and the work’s original creator cannot sue the person in court for it.
However, various academic institutions take strict action against plagiarism.
They can put various sanctions, substantial fines, suspension, and even expel someone from school for plagiarism.
Plagiarism is widespread in academia and the journalism sector.
Here many people often unintentionally and sometimes intentionally plagiarize other people’s work.
There can be four types of plagiarism. These are direct plagiarism, paraphrased plagiarism, mosaic plagiarism, and accidental plagiarism.
Common terminologies associated with plagiarism are literary forgery, art forgery, and pseudepigrapha. There is no official agency work to prevent plagiarism.
However, various plagiarism search engines and detection tools are available online to foil this practice; a few are Dupli Checker, Copyleaks, PaperRater, Plagiarisma, Plagium, etc.
Plagiarism can be avoided in multiple ways. Giving attribution to the source is one of the best ways to prevent plagiarism.
Another way is recreating the original work with proper modification.
Main Differences Between Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism
- When someone uses a copyright holder’s work without his permission or license is called copyright infringement. On the other hand, plagiarism occurs when anyone uses another person’s work without attributing it to the original author.
- Copyright Infringement is a criminal offence that needs to be settled in court. However, plagiarism is not a criminal offence.
- Common terminologies for copyright infringement are piracy, freebooting, and intellectual property theft. At the same time, common terminologies for plagiarism are literary forgery, art forgery, and pseudepigrapha.
- Punishment for copyright infringement can be a fine or even a jail sentence. But the penalty for plagiarism can be various sanctions, suspension, and a substantial fine.
- Copyright Infringement can be avoided by acquiring a license for using the work from the copyright holder. Similarly, plagiarism can be avoided by attributing the original author or modifying the work appropriately.
- Copyright Infringement causes monetary loss to the copyright holder. On the other hand, plagiarism does not give diligent credit to the original author.
- https://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=1006126#page=182
- https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=504523406983878;res=IELHEA
- https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ765670
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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.
