Copyright vs Plagiarism
It is easy to confuse plagiarism with copyright infringement — they are both bad and involve illicit copying — but it is important to understand the difference, which helps you to avoid both.
The core of the issue is that copyright infringement and plagiarism belong to two completely separate categories — they are not different versions of the same offense, but are rather two very different sorts of illicit act.
Copyright infringement is a legal problem. It involves breaking a law, and it is the job of lawmakers to define what does and does not constitute copyright infringement. The consequences are determined and enforced by the legal entities.
Plagiarism, on the other hand, is an breach of an ethical code (i.e. the Sul Ross State University Student Code of Conduct) that can result in charges of misconduct. Plagiarizing involves academic or professional dishonesty. Defining what does and does not constitute plagiarism is the job of school administrators or a professional board of ethics. The consequences are determined and enforced by a school or other institution.
You don’t have to infringe copyright to plagiarize. For example, you are writing an essay and you copy a single sentence from other people's work to make your point without proper citation. This could be considered Fair Use because the usage is academic, not-for-profit, and educational, and you only copied less than 10% of the original work. However, if you do not cite the original author and attribute to the quote properly, you are committing plagiarism. Read our Research Basics page to learn more about citation and plagiarism.
All it takes for a student to avoid plagiarism is using quotations when directly quoting another source and citing the source used. However, these tactics alone do not protect a student against claims of copyright infringement. To use a copyright protected work, the student must have permission to do so or use within the Fair Use exceptions.