By Jennifer L. Bowie

Copyright, Plagiarism, & Digital Media

How to deal with copyright and plagiarism issues

By Dr. Jennifer L. BowieFor the Rhet Comp Senior Seminar

What is Copyright?• Literally right to copy• Benefits the authors/owners

– Gives them the rights to control their own work after sale

• Protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form

What is the History of Copyright?• Granted in US Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, the Intellectual

Property Clause), which gives Congress the power to enact statutes:– To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited

Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

• Congress used power first in the Copyright Act of 1790, which has been revised numerous times for things like photographs & more

• Today we base our copyright law on the Copyright Act of 1976, with some adjustments including:– Sonny Bono Act in 1998: Extended term of copyright protection to life of

author plus 70 yrs• Why did this come about?

– Digital Millennium Copyright Act: focuses on digital copyright issues like software and piracy

http://www.spaceshipnofuture.org/pix/steamboat-willie.jpg

What is Copyrighted?• The Intellectual Property of others including: text graphics,

music, & cinema• Anything with a copyright & also anything “published” in

some form• Things that are not in the public domain• Your name• Doesn’t need to have the copyright symbol or be officially

copyrighted

Copyright gives the owner/creator acknowledgment and often money for reproduction of their property

Fair Use• Use is for comment, criticism, scholarship, education

& news reporting• Small amount & not the “heart”• Is published and is commercial• Use does not impact market or value• Use is not primarily commercial

Try to get as many as possible

Copyleft• Play on the words copyright• License based• Often extends limited (or full) copyright rights to the public,

while retaining others• Some restrictions on use of works are removed• Can obtains licenses that allow certain select uses of your

work – Flickr’s photos– Creative commons http://creativecommons.org/ – EFF http://www.eff.org/

Remember:• Anything on your website that did not

originate in your own head should be cited. This includes:– Direct quotes– Paraphrases– Information– Design templates– Images– Screenshots

Using Other’s Media • Remember: Anything on your website/media

that did not originate in your own head should be cited. This includes:– Direct quotes– Paraphrases– Information– Design templates– Images– Screenshots

Also remember:• Anything that is copyrighted (and anything that is

published online is copyrighted) must be used correctly or not at all– Copyrighted means they own the image/text/whatever and

say whether or not you can use it– Follow fair use guidelines if you use it. Fair use factors:

• Character of the use • Nature of the work to be used• Amount of work• Effect use would have on the market

Using Text: Quotes, Paraphrases, & Information• Follow regular citations guidelines for using text:

– For direct quotes: put it in quotes or block quote it. Use an in-text citation and include source in a works cited/reference page (or equivalent)

– For paraphrases and information: make it clear where the paraphrasing/info starts and stops. Use an in-text citation and include source in a works cited/reference page (or equivalent)

– For all: use in-text citations and include a works citied/reference/bibliography page

A great resource for correctly citing sources: The Purdue Owl http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/index.html

Why should you cite?

Your Permissions & Works Cited Page(s):• If any information, text, formats, images, or graphics comes from

an outside source you should have a works cited/reference page and a permissions page. These can be combined.

• Works cited/reference/bibliography page: Follow standard formatting as you would for a paper. Include:– “A brief description of the material. – Address of the page on your Web site containing the material. – Name of the Web site where you found the material. – Address of the Web site where you found the material. – Name of the person you contacted. – Date permission was granted. – The format of the permission request (email, letter, phone conversation,

etc.).”These bullets are a quote from:

http://depts.washington.edu/trio/train/howto/pieces/writing/citing.shtml

Using Images:• Read the rules: Check the “disclaimers” and

“terms and conditions” to see if you can use it, for what, and how (and follow the rules!)

• It’s best to get permission from the owner of the copyright to use the images, and this is vital if your project will be used outside the class

Using Images: con.

• Identify the source of your image & a link– Cite the author next to the material (like below) & URL– Cite the permission on your sites work cited/permissions page

• If you did not get permission then treat it like text your cited (but do get permission if it does not follow fair use or if you use it outside of this class)

• Example:

Image Courtesy of Purdue University Online Writing Lab http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

Copyleft and Public Domain Images• Note: These still do need to be cited and need to follow general copyright

laws. However these sources may lead you to images that can be used in a wider variety of uses.

• Creative Commons: Tools, images, music, text with a variety of copyright levels, and much with only some rights reserved.

• Government images: Images created by government agencies (like NASA and the park services) are available for public use. Do check the websites for particular guidelines.

• Flickr: Many of Flickr’s images are posted as “creative commons” images and have a variety of copyright levels, and many have only some rights reserved. Do be especially careful with these and check out each image’s individual status. Also, make sure you follow Flickr’s guidelines for use (which include a link back to Flickr for each image).

• Others?

Music & Creative Commons ResourcesDo not use copyrighted music without permission, but there is lots of creative commons music you can use!• Magnatune: I found the music for Screen Space on this site. Lots of good choices with a pro-artist bent.. As they

say "Magnatune is not evil. We work directly with independent musicians world-wide to give you downloads of MP3s and perfect-quality WAV files. We never work with major labels, and our musicians always get 50%. You can listen to every album in its entirety before buying or becoming a member."

• Music Alley: (Was Podsafe Music Network) Originally created by podcasters as a music archive for podcasters--podsafe music. Lots of options and some from big name.

• Jamendo: A Creative Commons recommended music site for podcasters and other digital media artists, composers, and creators. As Jamendo says "On Jamendo artists allow anyone to download and share their music. It's free, legal and unlimited."

• SpinXpress: This is a media site, including music, also Creative Commons recommended. As they say "SpinXpress is used by independent global media producers to create videos, music compilations, and other collaborative media projects." Also allows file sharing.

• Wikimedia Commons: Also a media repository recommended by Creative Commons . As the site says, "Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content (images, sound and video clips) to everyone, in their own language."

• Music Podcasts: There are several music podcasts that use only Creative Commons music, so you can listen and find things you want and them use them.

• Thesixtyone.com: A music social networking site with many Creative Commons songs. Artists:• NIN: Has two CC albums: Ghosts I-IV (all instrumental, good for podcasts) and The Slip (more traditional NIN music) • Jonathan Coulton: All the songs he wrote are licensed Creative Commons by-nc, and all his music covers and other

things he doesn't own are not copy protected.• Josh Woodward: Findlay, Ohio singer/songwriter has 150 songs online you can download and use.• Ask a local artist: many are happy to let you use their work in your podcasts!

Citing in Podcasts• Use vocal in-text citations whenever material comes

from outside sources:– Example: In this podcast article, I respond to Warnick’s call on page 327 of “Looking to the Future” “

[QUOTE] for a move away from printcentric criticism.”[END QUOTE]

• Provide a full works cited/reference page in the transcript and/or lyrics section of the album info

• Make sure you cite music and include where it can be found. Examples:

• “Screen Space’s opening music today is “African Dance” by Apa Ya off of Headroom Project and the closing music is “Survival” by Beth Quist off of “Shall We Dance”. Both these selections are available from Magnatune.”

• …here is one of my favorite songs off the Extraordinary Contraptions album you could win; this song is “Never Halfway Only”. The song and/or album are available on their website theextraordinarycontraptions.com, Last.fm and nimbit

Citing in Blogs, Wikis, and Websites• Link any source info to the page one the website,

blog, wiki,… you got it from• Consider footnotes to cover in-text and full source

info in one!• If not then:

– Include in-text citations and– Provide either:

• A full works cited page as a separate page (best for websites where additional resources will not often be added)

• A full list of the works cited at the bottom of the page or relevant post (best for blogs and wikis)

How can put this in action?• What do you think? How will you do this?

Does the type of site matter?

For More Information:• Great Resources:

– For correctly citing sources: The Purdue Owl http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/index.html

– For more details on guidelines for using images http://depts.washington.edu/trio/train/howto/pieces/images/cguide.shtml

– For citing images & the image permissions page http://depts.washington.edu/trio/train/howto/pieces/writing/citing.shtml

Follow these guidelines and you should have no copyright and plagiarism issues for this class

But do remember, you must get permission to use images and text outside of this class and for websites not associated with your classes.

Also remember, any image, text, information or anything that was not in your own head or your original work must be cited and must follow copyright laws. Not doing so is not only illegal, unethical, and breaks school policies, but with result at least in a F for the project and possibly and F for the class and a note in your file.

Have Fun & Cite Well!

All images copyright Microsoft Clip Art

All images are from Microsoft’s Clip Art, unless otherwise noted