Copyright violation = plagiarism?

[Lionel Mandrake]

Most professors and students at any college would agree that plagiarism (representing someone else's work as your own) should not be tolerated. This is certainly the case at Cal State Long Beach, where I hang out. But there is no such unanimity of opinion about copyright.

Most of us suspect that it is the profits of publishers, rather than the rights of authors, that suffer when we use the Xerox machine however we see fit. But Tracey Mayfield, the Associate Dean of the University Library at Cal State Long Beach (does a college library really need an associate dean?) sees it differently.

“There really seems to be, in some cases, a disconnect with some of the faculty between coming down like 10 tons of you-know-what on a student for plagiarizing, but you’re showing them stuff on the computer where you downloaded illegal software, or you’re handing out multiple copies of a short story by somebody that you didn’t get permission from,” Mayfield said. “To me, it all falls under the same umbrella, the plagiarism, intellectual property and copyright."

Does anyone agree with Dean Mayfield that copyright violation is pretty much equivalent to plagiarism?

Read more: http://www.daily49er.com/news/academic-senate-warns-professors-about-violating-copyright-law-1.2817873#.UUj0WL_Zp5g

[Deep13]

1. No, one is actual dishonesty while the other is a technical violation.

The law considers copyright violations as a kind of theft, but it isn't at least not in the usual sense because the violator of copyright does not actually take anything from the copyright holder, but rather duplicates it. A car thief does not duplicate your car, he takes it, depriving you of that of that item. I'm not defending copyright violations--intellectual property needs to be protected, but it is not the same as plagiarism because there is no intent to deceive. One can use anyone's ideas he or she wants as long as it has an attribution.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Well said! K&R

[sadbear]

3. Ha! We've got 4 ADs at Texas A&M University Libraries.

On the main campus alone.

And what's a xerox machine?

Oh yeah, and I disagree with the dean. Intellectual integrity and honest differs intellectual property rights.

[Lionel Mandrake]

4. A Xerox machine

was the bane of publishers everywhere, until the world wide web became an even bigger problem for them. (At least I hope so.)

If university officials are "Captains of Erudition" (Thorstein Veblen's memorable phrase), then Associate Deans are Ensigns of Erudition. Their number is Legion.

So far, the count is 3 to 0 against this particular Ensign's opinion.