What’s the difference between
plagiarism and copyright infringement?
What is it?

Who enforces the rules?

Plagiarism

Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when you use someone else’s
words or ideas without giving credit to theoriginal author.

Instructors, academic units, and institutions as a whole may

Copyright Infringement
Copyright infringement can occur if you infringeon the exclusive rights given to an author/creator.
Those six rights are:• Reproduce or make copies of the work
• Distribute copies of the work
• Create a derivative work
• Display the work publicly• Perform the work publicly• Publicly perform sound recordings bymeans of digital audio transmission

What rules govern it?
Plagiarism
Academic and other institutions often
follow ethical codes regarding academic integrity
which prohibit plagiarism and other misconduct.

Copyright Infringement
Copyright and penalties for copyright
infringement are governed by federal
and, in some instances, state law.

enforce a variety of penalties for plagiarism.
At Ohio State, alleged infractions are referred to the Committeeon Academic Misconduct (COAM) for investigation and disciplinary action.

Copyright Infringement
A copyright owner or their authorized agent may bring aclaim of copyright infringement. Claims of copyright infringement may be settled in or out of court between the copyrightowner and the alleged infringer. An expensive lawsuit could
result, where a judge or jury determines whether infringement
has occurred and if so, what the penalty will be.

How can I avoid it?
Plagiarism
Use quotation marks and ellipses when quoting directly fromanother source. When you summarize or paraphrase material,
restate it in your own words. Whether quoting or paraphrasing,always credit the source!
Contact the Writing Center at Ohio Statego.osu.edu/the-writing-center for assistance and/or
ask your instructor to review your assignment before turning it
in if you have questions or concerns about plagiarism.

go.osu.edu/the-writing-center

Copyright Infringement

There are many options for using copyrighted material without
infringing:• Determine if your use falls under a statutory exception, such as
Fair Use• Comply with existing license terms or terms of use if available• Request permission from the copyright owner to use the workPlagiarism and Copyright Infringement
Plagiarism and copyright infringement are not the same. You can plagiarize without infringing copyright, and you caninfringe copyright without plagiarizing. Although they are two separate concepts, plagiarism and copyright infringement
can occur at the same time.

Example: Plagiarism, NOT copyright infringement
You copy a few sentences word for word from On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin for your report on evolution,
but you do not cite the original work or acknowledge the author. This is plagiarism because you have presented someone
else’s work as your own. However, it is not copyright infringement because the copyright term for On the Origin ofSpecies has expired; this means that the work is in the public domain and is no longer protected by copyright.

Example: Copyright infringement, NOT plagiarism
You create a website to provide information to the public on an important topic. To make your material more engaging,you search the internet for decorative or funny images and include at least one image on every page of your site. You arecareful to cite the source of each image. This is not plagiarism because you have properly cited the source of each image.
However, this could be considered copyright infringement because materials found online are protected by copyrighteven if they are not accompanied by a copyright notice, and you are reproducing and distributing copies (two of the*exclusive rights of rights holders) of a protected work without permission (and no **statutory exception applies). You
can avoid copyright infringement in this situation by using images that are in the public domain or licensed for your use(such as Creative Commons licensed materials).

Example: Both plagiarism
AND copyright infringement*Exclusive rights

You post a recently published short story by your favorite author to yourblog, and claim that you wrote it yourself. This is plagiarism because
you are using someone else’s work without giving them credit, and it iscopyright infringement because you are reproducing and distributing
copies (two of the *exclusive rights of rights holders) of a protected
work without permission (and no **statutory exception applies).

Example: Neither plagiarism
NOR copyright infringement
You include several short quotes from scholarly articles in your research
paper and you include citation information for each source. This is notplagiarism as you have clearly identified third party material in yourreport by using quotation marks and providing citations to the original
sources. This is also not copyright infringement because the use of
short quotes in research is a widely accepted example of Fair Use: a**statutory exception included in U.S. Copyright Law.

Copyright grants six exclusive rights
to the creator of a work:• Reproduce or make copies of the work
• Distribute copies of the work
• Create a derivative work
• Display the work publicly• Perform the work publicly• Publicly perform sound recordings bymeans of digital audio transmission**Statutory exceptions

Copyright law includes statutory
protections that permit the useof copyrighted materials without
permission, under certain circumstances.
Fair use is one such protection that iscommonly used.
Visit go.osu.edu/fairuse to learn more.

Resources

Contact• Copyright Basics from Copyright Services
at University Libraries: go.osu.edu/copyrightbasics

Copyright Services at University Libraries• Plagiarism information from The Ohio State University
Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing:go.osu.edu/plagiarism• Get help with your writing at the Writing Center at
Ohio State: go.osu.edu/the-writing-center• Video on Academic Misconduct and Plagiarism at
Ohio State: go.osu.edu/plagiarism-video

Phone: 614-688-5849
Email: libcopyright@osu.edu
Website: go.osu.edu/copyrightDisclaimer: Copyright Services is not legal counsel
to the University or any members of the Universitycommunity. Information provided by Copyright
Services is not legal advice.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0