Introduction 8: What is Plagiarism?

Introduction 8: Plagiarism and Copyright

The ideas and creative works of an individual belong to that person. Other people are not allowed to use those ideas without the permission of the author. In written work, submitting the ideas of another person without acknowledging their source is called plagiarism.  



When you produce a paragraph, essay, or other assignment, your expression of ideas must be your own. Quoting a passage from a book, magazine, newspaper, or website to support your point of view or illustrate an idea might be an excellent idea. However, you must cite the reference according to recognized standards. You can learn more about citing references in the Course Reference Guide.

Sharing of ADLC work is strictly prohibited.

The practice of using and representing someone else's work as your own is plagiarism. To share or use academic work, especially after having been marked by ADLC, is academically dishonest and a violation of Alberta School Act as well as ADLC's policies.

• A student currently enrolled in any ADLC course and found to be sharing or using previous submitted academic work, will receive a first offense warning, and notation on their file.

• A second offense will result in immediate removal from the course. This includes using work from previous students and will not be permitted.

ADLC reserves the right to pursue either criminal or civil action against the use of copyrighted materials online.

Copyright and You: Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by government to protect the ownership of a particular expression of an idea or information. It covers any original work a person creates, such as written materials, art, and photographs. Usually these rights have limited duration. If you write an essay, poem, or short story or if you paint a picture or take a photo, you own automatically the copyright to that material unless the work was created as part of your paid job.
That means you can copy it, sell it, or make other versions of it. No one else is legally entitled to use it without your permission. However, unless you or your descendents take action to protect the copyright, after a certain period of time (depending on the country), the copyright expires and the work becomes part of the public domain. Copyright in Canada generally expires fifty years after the death of the author.
Images are also owned by the artist or photographer who produced them. You should not use images without permission.
The following icons describe the rights that are associated with the images in this course. Keep in mind that, when you use an image from the Internet for your own use, you should cite the source.