Discussing Plagiarism and Fair Use

I'm excited and privileged to share the next year with your sons and daughters.  Thank you for viewing my first blog post.  We will be using this for classroom communication rather than sending notes home in backpacks, with the exception of permission slips that need a signature.  I will send an e-mail with a link to let you know when there is a new post.  I will occasionally have students post work on this blog as well.

View from our classroom window

This first post is a reminder of copy right law and how that affects student work.  Copy right law protects "original works of authorship," whether published or unpublished.  It includes original works such as: literary, dramatic, artistic, and musical. In other words, if you didn’t think it up yourself,you must give credit or it is plagiarism.

Fair Use laws are closely related to the First Amendment, and they protect the right to free speech.  Fair Use laws allow bits of copyrighted materials to be quoted for news reports, parody, artistic license, and for purposes of education.  It is not stealing, it is using a bit of someone else’s idea to create your own.  Saturday Night Live, memes, and commentary are examples where Fair Use laws protect free speech.

Under Fair Use Laws, teachers can show DVDs, YouTube clips, can share articles and poems with students (with defined limits) without obtaining permission from the author or creator. This PDF clearly explains the limits of Fair Use law as it pertains to educators.


Under Fair Use Law, students can: with limits, use up to 10% of a movie, or article, while properly quoting and giving credit to the creator.  Images may be used with credit given, but may not be altered.  Source:  Mansfield Library Fair Use for Students 

Even if you do not copy and paste another’s words, you may still be guilty of plagiarism.  If you paraphrase by rearranging words and sentences but do not give credit to the author from whom you got the ideas, you are guilty of plagiarism.  It is better to err on the side of using citations and giving credit.

In class this year we will be writing, creating PowerPoint presentations, and making blog posts.  I figured it makes sense to start the year with a discussion on plagiarism and Fair Use practices.  Again, I look forward to an excellent year of learning.


Sources for further reading:

Wikipedia article on Copyright Law

Plagiarism Checker: Paraphrasing vs Plagiarism  


DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an educational technology course at National University.