Skip to Main Content

Research for College Success

Copyright & Plagiarism

Objectives

  1. Review and understand common violations of plagiarism
  2. Understand the consequences of plagiarism

Introduction

Following the above objectives, this last lecture elaborates on last week's readings from the textbook in order for you to better grasp the concepts around the issues of copyright, fair use, and plagiarism.  While there are no readings assigned from the e-textbook for lesson #7, please remember to read Lecture #6 before taking the last and final quiz.

The summaries in the fourth and final draft of your annotated bibliography should be free of plagiarism. This means, as you've come to understand, that the summaries should be written up in your own words.  If and when you use text written by someone else or another organization, I hope you have given credit to them. 

All works selected for your final annotated bibliography should be cited properly.  By now, you should have selected the style you plan to use - APA or MLA? 

Any questions you may have, please do not hesitate to email me or drop by my virtual office hour.   

7.1. Examples of common violations of Plagiarism

Below are some examples of common types of violations: 
 
Creating a playlist of your favorite songs to sell to guests at a charity event is a violation of copyright. (But, making a playlist of music for yourself is OK!)
 
Including the artwork from an album by your favorite rapper you found on Amazon.com’s website is a violation of copyright
 
Including lyrics from rap songs in your research paper without giving credit to the songwriter is a violation of copyright.
 
Taking a sentence or two from a book without attribution to provide just the right term of phrase to a paper because you can’t think of a way to say it better is a violation of the copyright of the author of the original work.
 
Taking a unique idea that you’ve read in a journal article, even if you don’t copy the content word for word, and passing the idea off as your own by not providing attribution to the original author is a violation of intellectual property and copyright.
 
Including a photograph of a work of art meant to illustrate a particular artist's work, or a particular period, without attributing the book/website it came from is also a violation of copyright.
 
Using an image of the Nike swoosh, and the phrase “Just do it” on a t-shirt as a sign of encouraging people to rush a fraternity or sorority. This is a violation of the Nike trademark.

7.2. Some real life examples of violations...

In March 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that "Peloton, the indoor cycling company, was sued for $150 million for trademark infringement by the National Music Publishers Association representing 14 members, including Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Drake, Bruno Mars, Adele, Gwen Stefani, and more."  Peloton was sued for using over 2,400 songs in the company's video streaming platform without obtaining their permission.  Peloton settled the law suit with the music publishers in February 2020 and it was reported in Variety that they now shared a "joint collaboration agreement and will work together to further optimize Peloton's music-licensing systems and processes." 

Steele, A. (2019, March 20).  Publishers Sue Peloton for use of songs from Drake, Lady Gaga.  Wall Street Journal - Online edition, 1.

Other Cases

Sisario, B. (2019). Katy Perry and Others Must Pay $2.8 Million Over ‘Dark Horse,’ Jury Says. New York Times (Online).
The jury had found that the singer, her record company and collaborators were liable for copyright infringement because parts of the song resembled a Christian rap song by the artist Flame.

 

Thornton, C. (2021). Nicki Minaj Agrees to Compensate Tracy Chapman $450,000 to Settle Copyright Infringement Lawsuit. In Black enterprise. Earl G. Graves Publishing Company, Inc.

The article reports on the copyright infringement settlement reached by rapper Nicki Minaj and singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, in which Minaj agreed to pay 450,000 dollars to Chapman for the alleged infringement of her song "Baby Can I Hold You."

 

J. K. Rowling Wins Copyright Fight. (2008). American Libraries, 39(9), 34–35.

The article reports that a U.S. district court has ruled that Michigan publisher RDR Books could not proceed with the print publication of "The Harry Potter Lexicon," a 400-page reference work by former school librarian Steven Vander Ark based on the website he created in 2000. In addition to ordering a permanent injunction barring the book's publication, Judge Robert P. Patterson awarded the minimum damages of $750 for each of the series' seven novels and author J. K. Rowling's two companion books.

 
Knopper, S. (2019). Copyright Chaos? Billboard, 131(19), 17–18.
The infringement verdict against Katy Perry and her "Dark Horse" co-writers could lead to a new' wave of lawsuits against songwriters Few music executives flinched after a lawsuit over "Blurred Lines" resulted in a ruling of copyright infringement - and more than $7 million in damages - for Marvin Gaye's estate against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams

7.3 What happens at CSI re: Plagiarism?

The CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity covers procedures for reporting and penalties for cheating, plagiarism, obtaining unfair advantage, falsification of records and official documents.  With regards to plagiarism, Section 1.2. states: 

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person's ideas, research or writings as your own. Examples of plagiarism include: •

  • Copying another person's actual words or images without the use of quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source.
  • Presenting another person's ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging the source.
  • Failing to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory assignments.
  • Internet plagiarism, including submitting downloaded term papers or parts of term papers, paraphrasing or copying information from the internet without citing the source, or "cutting & pasting" from various sources without proper attribution.

If you are ever accused of plagiarism by an instructor in any one of your courses and you disagree, You should first talk to your instructor and find out the reasons.  If you still disagree with your instructor's perspective, please seek counseling and/or help from the following below: 

  • Academic Integrity Officer
  • Academic Integrity Committee
  • Grade Appeals Committee

Now, go back to the Brightspace course site

Please log in to Brightspace to complete the following listed in Lesson #7.  Any assignment,  or tutorial given in this lesson MUST be completed on or before October 25, 2025 by 11:30pm.

 

  1. Prepare for the mini-quiz scheduled for October 22, 2025
  2. Take the post-survey assessment for this course.
  3. Collate three submitted drafts into final annotated bibliography--review and revise for submission on or before October 25

 

 

 

CREDIT: With permission, partial content on this web page was adapted from the University of Idaho Information Literacy Portal.