[LM_NET] Hit:Gen: Teacher/Student Question About Copyright

[Sally Schoenberg <sallyisit@AOL.COM>]

I received many requests to post a hit. Someone sent me this answer, which I found 
most helpful:



I am guessing that the question relates to books that are presumably now in the 
public domain because the copyright date is old enough (pre-1923? I'd have to look 
that up, and it can become complicated because of special cases provided for in 
law). 

 

The answer is that plagiarism is plagiarism (that is, claiming someone else's work 
as one's own). It is still wrong. 

 

BUT work that is in the public domain may be freely reproduced. Many publishers 
reprint public-domain works (Dover Publications has a large selection of public 
domain reprintsk, for example). But they are not presented as other than the 
original authors' works. 

 

You would, I think, be providing a service by explaining the difference between 
plaigiarism and copyright infringment. They are entirely different things, although 
they might occur simultaneously if someone is plagiarising copyrighted 
(non-public-domain) work. Plagiarism is claiming someone else's work as your own. 
Copyright infringement is making illegal use of someone else's copyrighted work, 
whether or not you give credit to the author. The former is dishonest. The latter 
is both dishonest and a form of theft. 

 

I hope that is helpful. 





Sally Schoenberg

Library Information Specialist

Wilmette, IL



"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to 
read." Groucho Marx



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