What is a copyright violation? The copyright code says, "anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner ...is an infringer of the copyright or right of the author." Plain and simple. If you are using someone's work without permission, it is theft. This is the willful infringing on the copyright of someone else. When discovered, the owner of the copyright has the right to litigate against the infringer.
What constitutes an infringement of someone's copyright? If you make copies of the work, such as making copies of a DVD and distributing them, if you create a work that is derivative, that is, a work that uses a large piece of a previously created work in it, such as drawing a moustache over an image of the Mona Lisa. Even the act of downloading or printing an image found on the Internet can be counted as making an unlicensed copy of a work.
Displaying the work without permission or performing it publicly without permission is also a violation of an applicable copyright, as is distributing copies of a work by sale, rent, lease, or lending.
The term "pirating" or "piracy" is often used to denote the act of unlawfully distributing copies of a work, generally via the Internet by such methods as sharing via BitTorrent, or Peer-to-Peer networks (commonly referred to as P2P). Making copies of computer software is also an infringement on the rights of the company that created the software. Software piracy is rampant and just as wrong as any other form of copyright violation.
When you read a text, watch a movie, or listen to music, you are internalizing copyrighted information. Whenever you write an essay, you need to reference materials written by others to support your stance. When you do this, you must reference where you found the work(s). Failure to do this is known as plagiarism.
Plagiarism is the taking or borrowing of another person's facts, ideas, or words without acknowledging the original source of that information. Plagiarism is illegal and in many colleges and universities it is grounds for expulsion from those centers of education.
If there's something more serious than being kicked out of a university, then that would have to be having a lawsuit filed against you by the copyright owner whose work you copied and having to appear in court to defend yourself. Odds are you will lose unless you can prove you did not plagiarize a work.
After being branded a plagiarist, you can lose all credibility in whatever field you are known in as people will no longer regard you as being nothing more than a thief of information.
The best way to avoid violating the copyright of another person or entity is to always seek permission from the owner of the copyright before using the work in question. In this instance, the old adage of begging forgiveness instead of asking permission can have costly repercussions.
The way to have a better redress against someone infringing your copyright is to have your work registered with the Copyright Office. If they have a record of you registering your work, and a deposited copy of it, they can better help you in the fight against those who would seek to infringe upon your copyright.© ResearchCopyright.com
