A 1991 edition of Webster's Dictionary defines copyright as "the exclusive right to print or produce, given for a limited number of years to an author, artist, etc." The same 1991 edition defines plagiarize as "to purloin the published thoughts or words of another.” Purloin is to “steal or pilfer; to filch; to take by theft or plagiarism.”
Have these definitions changed over the last couple of decades?
A post on a popular online job board read, “Re-write my essay which was plagiarized.” The request was made by a medical student in the UK who was offering £50. The requirements read: “I need someone very reliable to work from today up to five pm tomorrow (UK time), no delays can be acceptable as this has a strict deadline. I believe anyone applying for this job should be able to read, interpret and re-write the entire work.” The student would then submit it to the professor as her own and no one would be the wiser.
A complaint was filed with the site and the job was immediately removed.
Is Plagiarism Running Rampant?
Instances of plagiarism and copyright infringement have grown exponentially with the ease of access to other people’s work through the internet and on the airwaves.
"In my years of working with students, I think that almost every one of them aspires to be a moral and ethical person. However, when it comes to plagiarizing, some students don't understand that this is a matter of intellectual integrity and honesty,” says Rebecca Grappo, a 20-year education veteran and president of RNG International Educational Consultants. “They see the immediate benefit of taking a ‘short cut’ and getting the work done without effort. But respecting the intellectual property rights of another person is at the very heart of living a moral and ethical life. Sometimes this lesson needs to be taught in very concrete terms."
Attitudes Toward Plagiarism
A talk show broadcast in Dubai highlighted the growing problem of copyright infringement and asked listeners to call in with their opinions. One caller couldn’t understand why one person should be the only one to benefit monetarily from the song they wrote. He asked why couldn’t someone else “re-do” it and make money off it and not have to pay the original artist who’s already made enough already.
There are many examples of plagiarism cases in the news such as the well-publicized case in 2009 against the Hartford Courant where it was found that plagiarism was common practice in the news room. In 2003, a young New York Times reporter, Jason Blair, with a promising career in news, was fired for falsifying and plagiarizing numerous articles.
Plagiarism in schools, in news rooms and in the music industry is nothing new. Famous people throughout history have been caught stealing other people’s words and using them as their own. A website www.famousplagiarists.com created by Dr. J.P. Lesko from Saginaw Valley State University, is waging a war on plagiarism. In his research he has gathered extensive case studies and historical data and will be publishing a book of the same name.
On his website Dr. Lesko comments, “People knew plagiarism was wrong several thousand years ago back in the days of the Roman Empire. It was then that the Latin word plagiarius —from which we get our modern day English word plagiarism—seems to have first been used to refer to the pilfering of another author’s words and ideas.”
As Grappo points out, the concept of intellectual property rights is at best nebulous and at worst, totally ignored by some. However, there are laws that govern the use of copyrighted materials. They vary from country to country and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation ( UNESCO) has been the global watchdog since it was established in 1952. UNESCO is continuing its uphill battle to ensure the protection of intellectual property worldwide that has been greatly eroded by what it calls “the digital revolution.”
Anne O'Connell - Anne O’Connell has been a public relations professional since 1990 and has been working as a freelance writer and trainer since ...
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