What is plagiarism and how to distinguish it from similar actions?

Creative personalities, for example, musicians, writers, artists and inventors know perfectly well what plagiarism is. As a rule, they have often faced this concept directly or indirectly and are aware of the harm that it brings for their creativity and career. Therefore, they are in a hurry to patent intellectual property in order not to get into an unpleasant situation. Before giving any advice to consumers, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the very concept of plagiarism and its peculiarities.

So, the meaning of the word plagiarism is known since the 17th century. This term was used when characterizing literary theft. As for the more ancient times, in Roman law there was a notion of "plagium", which was called selling a free man into slavery. The punishment for such an act was scourging. To date, the lexical meaning of this term has slightly changed, and now it is deciphered as the appropriation of copyright, which is carried out by publishing someone else's work or some part of it under his own name.

Of course, considering what plagiarism is, it should be noted - his interpretation in several sources suggests that the essence of the concept may differ. So, many of them treat the term as a violation of copyright, which manifests itself in the uncoordinated use of the work. But in this case imitation and borrowing, to which young authors often resort, find themselves in this definition, while searching for their own style. When a writer uses the famous Onegin stanza, in this context it is also considered as a variant of plagiarism.

Of course, no one doubts that plagiarism is a negative phenomenon. Each of us understands that he is illegal, and people who resort to him, are subject to punishment. However, before making your full opinion about this phenomenon, it is necessary to understand what plagiarism is. As a rule, the author's use of a part of the work is equated with it, and even a modification of it in such a way that the author does not guess about anything. This is already regarded as a violation of intellectual property rights. And this phenomenon is common not only in literature. There is such a thing as musical plagiarism. Proceeding from the fact that all contemporary art in one way or another is based on somebody's tendencies and positions, there is nothing to be surprised at. Almost in any musical composition, if you examine it in detail, you can find some motives that were previously somewhere already met. Most often, this "borrowing" is peculiar to the national song, when the authors and performers begin to reproduce the motives of the West. However, as noted above, due to the vague meaning of the concept of "plagiarism", these actions are not so, because the performers do not attempt to appropriate authorship.

Today, in view of the massive use of the Internet as a communication network, the notion of plagiarism also arose in this sphere. It would seem that everyone uses materials from the worldwide network, but, specifying what plagiarism is on the Internet, we note that this is again a complete copy of the text and the appropriation of someone else's authorship. We, without hesitation, use other people's photos, articles and notes for our own purposes, without indicating the source. But these actions are not plagiarism, because we do not appropriate authorship either.

Any person who, in one way or another, encounters information in one form or another should know that plagiarism is a violation of copyright, patent and personal rights. Therefore, for such actions, not only civil, but also criminal liability is provided. And, deciding to use any information, ask the author if he will not be against your actions. It is best to get a written confirmation.