What should you know about copyright rules and policies?

Copyright laws are the intellectual property laws formulated for protecting original work, which is fixed in the tangible form, doesn't matter published or unpublished. Copyright law grants exclusive privilege to the creator for producing, publishing, and selling their artistic products. Copyright rules exist to protect the original work of the creator of:

1. Literary work
2. Dramatic work
3. Musical work
4. Pictorial, sculpture, and graphical work
5. Choreographic work
6. Sound recordings and other audio-visual work

What is copyright?

Copyright is the persons' right to produce, publish and sell his own work of authorship. It only covers the form of material expression, which doesn't include ideas, concepts, and techniques. In short, the work must have a tangible form to get the benefit of copyright protection.

Copyright owners’ rights

The main aim of copyright law is to protect and save the creator's efforts, time, and creativity. The law gives exclusive rights to the copyright owner like:

1. To reproduce his work.
2. Allowing him to prepare derivative work on the original work
3. Allowing selling, distribution, and leasing of his copies
4. Perform and display his work publicly

A copyright owner may also allow other people to do any of the things mentioned above. He can transfer his/her rights to others as well. Such transfers are done through a contract. It’s not mandatory to record the transfer with the copyright office but keeping the legal recording is a good idea in the first place.

One should note that if an artist creates a work for the company he works for or during his employment, he is not considered the copyright owner as it is known as 'work made for hire.

Limitations of the copyright laws

Copyright laws only protect the tangible work; the law doesn't cover the ideas, facts, concepts, and techniques used in the copyright work. You should know that the things that are not covered under copyright law may be protected under other intellectual property rights. For example, ideas, concepts, procedures, and methods are protected under patent laws; similarly, slogans, names, titles, and symbols can be trademarked.

Some exceptions for copyright protection laws are:

1. Library – Protected work can be copied for its preservation in the libraries.
2. Educational use – The law doesn’t apply if the work is used for learning and education purposes.
3. Specialized format – Producing and distributing the protected work in the specialized format to help people with disabilities is also not considered copyright infringement.

Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is a violation of someone's intellectual property rights. In other words, it is the theft of someone else's original creation. A creator has copyright protection for as long as he is alive. However, the term of protection ends after 70 years of his death. Anonymous creation, on the other hand, has the protection of 95 years from its publication.

5 Common Consequences of Plagiarism You Should Know About

 

Plagiarism is a serious offense, and the consequence of plagiarism is not short-lived but a long one with serious negative impacts. It can affect a student; it could affect any author or a person’s career related to writing and journalism or content. The seriousness of plagiarism always depends on the quantity or extent of plagiarism is. It could be anything from legal, ethical, and most importantly, academic. With so many plagiarism checkers available now, people can easily check if the content is original or not. Once it has been detected, the author or the individual would be given no second chance. And, after one detects plagiarism, the most notable consequences are.

It Affects The Individual As An Author 

With search engines, it is easy to find content now based on various topics. And, with that, the chances of plagiarism have amplified as well. For an author, reputation is built depending on the quality and the originality of the work. And, when a person is plagiarising a work, it is more than just taking a piece of work and copying it: it is calling it to be one’s own. With the paraphrasing tool, it is now easy to change a sentence’s format and change the whole outlook. 

Plagiarism might cause the actual author to be deprived of the reputation they deserve; it is a serious violation of the rights of personality. The right of the original author can never be transferred, and therefore, plagiarism is a grave mistake that should be avoided at all costs with tools to check for plagiarism.

Causing Hassle To The Readers

Not just the author but readers suffer from the consequences as well. They are denied access to the proper links and sources that could offer the foundation and the right knowledge. Therefore, freelance writers who specialize in anti-plagiarism make sure no content is duplicated but original in their own way.

Pointless Research 

Most people who plagiarise never take a full text and make their own but take points and patches from it. Committing plagiarism is easy if one is not careful. But trying to create a unification of works taken from here and there ultimately provides no fruitful research vision. Therefore, academic integrity should be maintained at all costs. 

Legal Steps 

When it comes to the legal side, the consequences of plagiarized content could be quite severe. Without citation, if work is plagiarised, the original author could sue the plagiarised writer, and it could be a long-drawn court battle. Avoid plagiarism by using a plagiarism detector which comes in free as well as paid versions. It could even lead to prison. 

Professional Reputation Is Destroyed 

This is another factor that one should be aware of. When accused of plagiarism, your reputation could very well go down the drain. Duplicate content and some mistakes could ruin your hard work of years as an academic professional or even as a student. When publishers observe academic dishonesty, the paths towards a successful career are closed.

Therefore, these are some of the most important and notable consequences regarding plagiarism and how original content should be the main essence of any work. Because dishonesty can ultimately lead to a destroyed reputation as well as a career.