1. Plagiarism, Copyright and Fair Use
How to Follow the Rules
Mrs. Gudmundson
2008
This presentation is designed to help you know what is okay to use in your projects, when it is alright to include material from other people and how to do that without getting in trouble.
We are going to cover plagiarism, which you have probably been warned about in the past, but you might still have some questions about,
copyright, which many people find hard to understand,
and fair use, which lets students and teachers use some copyrighted materials for school without getting in trouble.

2. What is Plagiarism? Using text word-for-word.
Copied from a book.
Copied from someone else’s work.
Pasted from the Internet.
Copying pictures, charts or diagrams.
Many of your teachers have most likely cautioned you about plagiarism. As soon as you learned how to write, you were told it was wrong to copy.
Some students plagiarize work by accident. Some do it on purpose.
The Internet has made it very easy to plagiarize. Highlight, click copy, then paste and voila -- someone else’s words are in your project. And they sound so good there.
But copying someone else’s words is stealing someone else’s words. Most students want to make sure they don’t do that. So here is what you can’t do.

3. How to avoid plagiarism
Put in quotations everything that comes directly from the text -- especially when taking notes.
Paraphrase, but be sure you are not just rearranging or replacing a few words.
Instead, read over what you want to paraphrase carefully.
Cover up the text with your hand, or close the text so you can’t see any of it (and so aren’t tempted to use the text as a “guide”).
Write out the idea in your own words without peeking.
Check your paraphrase against the original text to be sure you have not accidentally used the same phrases or words, and that the information is accurate.
How do you make sure you don’t accidentally plagiarize someone else’s work?
Read through steps on screen.
Use the last item -- check your paraphrase Have students paraphrase that sentence. Follow the read, cover, write.

4. What if I cite my sources?
You can avoid plagiarism if you correctly cite sources:
When you are using or referring to somebody else’s words or ideas from a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other source.
When you use information gained through interviewing another person.
When you copy the exact words or a "unique phrase" from somewhere.
When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, and pictures.
Read through slide.
List information you have to have in order to cite sources.
Procedure: any time you take notes, make sure the title, author, webpage, etc. is written in your notes. You should have the style guide with you when you take notes so you get all the necessary information. If you copy pages from a book to read through later, always copy the title page too. If you print from the Internet, don’t assume that all the information you need will be on the bottom of the printed page. Look for the information on the webpage and copy it onto your printed materials.

5. Do I ever I NOT need to list a source?
You don’t need to list a source:
When you are writing your own experiences, your own observations, your own insights, your own thoughts, your own conclusions about a subject.
When you are using “common knowledge.”
You find the same information in at least five other sources.
You think it is information that your readers will already know.
You think a person could easily find the information with general reference sources.
When you are writing up your own experimental results.
You don’t need to cite your own thoughts. If someone reads your paper and uses it as a source -- they need to cite you!
Facts that you know without ever looking them up are common knowledge -- George Bush is the president of the United States, the United States won the Revolutionary war, people need oxygen to breathe . . .
Also, if you are doing a lot of research and you find the same facts over and over again and no one cited them, you can assume it is common knowledge -- even if you didn’t know it before you started.

6. Need more information?
Type “avoid plagiarism” into a search engine like Google. You will find lots of information and suggestions.
Pick up a copy of the Kingsland Style Guide in the Media Center or,
Click on the online version of the Style Guide on the media center’s web page. Just click Kingsland Style Guide.
There are lots of web sites that will tell you more about plagiarism and how to avoid it.
Also, there are always copies of the style guide in the media center, or if you are working on your project at home, you can click on the style guide from the media center’s home page.
The style guide looks like this -- click on hyperlink.

7. Copyright What do copyright laws do?
Protect intellectual property from misuse by others.
This means ideas and information in print or in electronic form are the property of the person who created them.
You must get permission to use copyrighted materials.
You may use copyrighted materials for school if you follow fair-use guidelines.
Copyright laws protect people that create things, like writers, artists, musicians, web page authors, and many more.
You may not know much about copyright, it’s actually a really tough subject and it is not always black and white. People argue about what the law means in different situations.
Every time a new kind of technology is invented, someone has to figure out how copyright law applies to it.
This presentation deals with how you can use materials someone else created in school projects as a student. It is different than how copyright laws affect you outside of school.

8. Two poems to make you think . . .
I knew I’d get rich with my singing.
I made records, but no sales are ringing.
My fans download for free,
Or they copy CD’s.
No more records, I can’t fight the cheating!
I worked all night to get it right,
And created the most perfect graphic.
But when I put it on my site,
The next day eight other sites had it.
First, think about copyright from the viewpoint of a person who created something. It could be a famous singer or movie star, or it could be you, who made a website or an artwork or a game.
How would you feel if you had a chance to earn money or display your work and someone else stole it from you so you couldn’t make money, or worse, passed off your work as theirs?

9. Fair Use for Students
Fair use is a provision of copyright law that allows you to use a limited amount of copyrighted materials for your school projects.
Fair use has some rules you need to follow.
Fair use ALWAYS assumes that you cite the source for any material you use.
As a student, you can use limited amounts of some materials without getting in trouble. If you know the rules. And if you give credit where credit is due.

10. How much material can I use?
Printed materials
You may put text in your project as long as you stick to the limits:
10% or up to 1000 words of a long work
250 words of a poem
2 pages from a children’s book
1 chart or picture
The material must belong to you or to the school for you to use it.
If you are making a project -- whether it is writing a paper, creating a commercial for media class, putting together a PowerPoint, editing film clips for history or making your Minnesota History scrapbook, most of the material has to be original. It is YOUR project after all, not someone else’s.
Here are the limits for what you an use for print material -- information from a book or from an online work.

11. More Rules Videos, DVD’s or clips from the Internet Music Internet
You can use 10% or up to 3 minutes.
Music
Again, the limit is 10%.
Internet
Images can be downloaded for projects. Sound files and video may also be downloaded for use in multimedia projects.
Limits still apply and you have to cite sources.
These are the limits for video and audio. As you can see, it isn’t a very big percent. That’s because it is your project, not someone else’s.
Also, remember that these percentages apply to work you do on school projects, NOT for things you do outside of school.

12. Public Domain and Getting Permission
Some materials are in the Public Domain. That means anyone can use them.
Some older materials aren’t covered by copyright anymore.
Some owners put their materials in the public domain for anyone to use.
Some copyright holders give permission for others to use their work.
You can write or for permission.
Examples
Shakespeare’s plays are out of copyright
Some of the poems in books in the library are, too. (Have some examples).
Any other works created in the United States before 1923 are also no longer covered by copyright.
Some websites choose to let students use their work without worrying about copyright. The Smithsonian museums sites do this.
Much information on government sites is also copyright free.

13. To Use or Not To Use?
Here are the six things to consider if you want to use material created by someone else.
Remember that if you are doing a project for school, you do have permission to use a limited amount of material as long as you cite your sources.
If you are doing a project outside of school, for a contest, your own personal web page or business, or just thinking of copying something for a friend, you need to know what is legal. (This screen can be skipped if teacher only wants to discuss school use. It is included because this topic often brings up questions about other uses.)
Which questions are important to think about in these situations?
You are entering your film project in a local contest? It includes video from an old, black and white movie.
You got a great new CD and want to burn a copy for a friend.
You want to add some pictures of dolphins you found online to your personal webpage.
You have your own business making greeting cards that you sell at craft fairs.

14. Who’s Going To Know? Fair Use Standards
So you save some time and copy part of your paper. Who will ever know?
You will.
Your teacher probably will.
If you are still unsure what you can or can’t include in a school project, check the website below:
Fair Use Standards
When it comes down to your school work, the rules are pretty simple.
Take care not to accidentally copy other’s words when you take notes for a project.
Put quotation marks around anything that is someone else’s work and cite your source,
Limit the amount of material created by someone else in your project.
Do your own work and take pride in knowing you earned your grade, not someone else.
Teachers do check. In many classes the penalty for getting caught is an automatic zero.