The moment an original work is fixed in a tangible medium, it is copyrighted. Copyright's Office's Web pages . Plagiarism Defined Plagiarism is the stealing or using of the writing or ideas of others as though they are one's own.
Plagiarism is theft of another person's writing or ideas.
Courts recognize acts of plagiarism as violations of copyright law, specifically as the theft of another creator's intellectual property. Thus, for example, plagiarism can include copying language or ideas from another novelist, basing a new song in large part on another's musical composition, or copying another artist's drawing or photograph. Failing to attribute a quotation. Mixing the author's words with one's own. Footnoting a paragraph with no indication of what came from whom or where.