For UNC Undergraduate Students
- Introduction
- Plagiarism
- Copyright
- Student Author's Rights
- Copyright and the Internet
- File Sharing
- Copyright for Students Web Site - University of Colorado at Boulder
Introduction
If you wish to reproduce and/or distribute copyrighted materials for study, research or personal use, you should have a basic understanding of U.S. Copyright Law. In order to assist you in understanding your rights and responsibilities related to copyrighted materials, students can also review the University Libraries' Copyright Basics webpage.
You must keep in mind that U.S. Copyright Law applies to all forms of technology and that it is your responsibility to secure permission from the copyright holder if necessary.
Plagiarism
Plagarism is defined as "the act of attempting to pass another's words or ideas off as one's own." Plagarism is considered an ethical offense and can damage your academic reputation and lead to disciplinary action by the University. You should refer to the plagarism section on the Dean of Students Honor Code website to review the University's expectations with regard to plagarism.
UNC faculty have access to SafeAssign, a plagiarism detection tool which can verify plagarism in student's papers.
Additional Resources:
- The University Libraries' website offers additional resources under "Research Assistance > How do I... > Avoid Plagiarism."
- The University Libraries' website offers help with online resources for creating bibliographies and access to citation style manuals - http://library.unco.edu/articlefinder/citations.htm.
- The 'What if I plagiarize' section of the Dean of Student website describes the consequences of plagiarism for UNC students - http://www.unco.edu/dos/honor_code/understanding_plagiarism.htm.
- The Faculty Guide to Student Academic Misconduct explains disciplinary actions UNC faculty can take if one a student plagiarizes - http://www.unco.edu/dos/honor_code/faculty_guide.html.
- The VAIL Tutorial (Virtual Academic Integrity Laboratory) from the Center for Intellectual Property at University of Maryland University College offers assistance in understanding and avoiding plagarism.
- The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University provides information and writing techniques to avoid plagiarism.
Copyright
Copyright Infringement occurs when substantial portions of another's work are reproduced, performed or distributed, without permission from the copyright holder, in a manner that violates one or more of the original copyright owners exclusive rights, whether or not the copyright holder is cited.
Copyright Law does identify exceptions which may allow for reproducing another's work, such as Fair Use. Exceptions are commonly considered for educational purposes and allow for limited use of another's work without permission.
Student Author's Rights
You hold copyright to your work as the author. This includes works created as an assignment for a course. Instructors who wish to use or publish your work, upload to a website or share it for a class, must get your permission.
Copyright and the Internet
The same laws and penalties that apply to making illegal copies in the library or anywhere else apply to materials found on the Internet. While many web pages and other Internet resources are freely accessible, they are usually still protected by copyright. You may need to seek permission to use these resources even though they are available via Internet sources.
There are many sites that offer free or close-to-free materials. This list of a few was compiled by the University of Colorado at Boulder. These sites can offer a good alternative to copyrighted materials that need to have permission given for use.
File Sharing
The most common copyright-infringing activity on the Internet is sharing music, movies, or software. Individuals who use the University's Internet service to download or upload music, movies, or other unauthorized materials face legal consequences.
Review these additional links on the University Libraries' Copyright website for more information on obtaining and sharing music, movies or software.