This document discusses the differences between plagiarism and copyright infringement, and how technology has blurred the lines between these concepts. Plagiarism involves using others' words without attribution, while copyright infringement uses others' ideas without permission. The goals of copyright and intellectual property laws were to encourage the free flow of ideas while protecting creators, but in the digital age these laws have become focused more on profit than creativity. As technology allows for easy sharing of content, it has challenged traditional understandings of these legal concepts.
6. “Copyright is a crime against the individual (the source), plagiarism is widely understood as a crime against the group (the audience)” (Murray 174)
7. Bolter said that “electronic communication is increasingly the medium through which we form and maintain our affiliations (Bolter 204),” and similarly, our ideas.
8. Technology overlaps “fair use” of ideas with technology, blurring the once concrete laws of copyright and plagiarism.
9. The intentions of these laws make sense theoretically, but the result was not cohesive to the nature of art.
10. Plagiarism is the use of words, art, music, etc. without acknowledgement to the original creator.
12. “The goal of all participants is free, cited circulation…with the larger goal of creating new ideas and arguments from the fabric of those already existing.” (Murray 176)
14. “If this is a crime, we have a whole generation of criminals” –Lawrence Lessig (RiP!)
15. “Attribution of authorship is the highly personal connection between author and work, but the interest that copyright protects is the impersonal connection between owner and property” –Laurie Stearns (Murray 176)
16. Copyright has gotten out of control where the main goal is profit, ultimately at the public’s expense.
17. “We have the right to repeat people’s words in order to hold them accountable, bring them into dialogue, or use them as a springboard.” (Murray 180)
18. “Just as apparently useless wetlands may be key to maintaining a healthy environment, copyright “loopholes” are microclimates that foster creativity, innovation, and democracy.” (Murray 180)
19. “Too much of what we now protect under the guise of authorship is not creativity or innovation, but merely investment. Too much of the world’s creativity is unrecognized, and when it is recognized, our global intellectual property regimes provide rights without recognizing the responsibilities that many people in the world hold—responsibilities to others, to their ancestors, to future generations, and to the plants, animals, and spirits that occupy and animate the worlds they inhabit.”–Rosemary Coombe (Murray 177)