Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Indiana

"Plagiarism" is not a crime. Copyright infringement is "illegal." If used for educational or news reporting purposes, it should be okay if properly cited. If used for a business or to make money, no amount of citation will obviate the fact that it is copying.

Under federal copyright law, a content owner has the exclusive right to do and to authorize any of the following:

1. to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;

2. to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;

3. to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

4. in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly; and

5. in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission

On the other hand, there are exceptions...the fair use of a copyrighted work, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use, the factors to be considered include:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

2. the nature of the copyrighted work;

3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Without more information, it is not possible to give a detailed analysis, but these are the factors you should consider. I recommend you contact a copyright professional if you have an ongoing concern.

If the document on which copying was done is in itself a criticism or a research work etc , then possibly there is no copy right violation.

You must consult an attorney with full details of your case for a complete opinion.

S.Seshadri Esq.,

www.lawconcern.com

emails: [email protected]

[email protected]