Plagiarism and Legal Framework In India

Plagiarism and Legal Framework In India 

By Sandigdha Mishra, Advocate

advsandigdha@paydirtprofessionals.com

There are few matters such as stealing information, words, illustrations, expressions, ideas, tables, thoughts, or figures from various books, articles, interviews which are difficult to identify. Therefore, the act of using another individual’s work and then passing it as one’s own is known as Plagiarism.

As per law, whenever one uses sentences, words, ideas or phrases, summarize, or paraphrase other person’s work, it’s important to name the source of information in your work. And not citing, acknowledging or quoting the source in your work is considered plagiarism.

In today's era Internet’s popularity has continued to grow; shocking the world with it’s never before seen technological capacities. It allowed for the communication of ideas and provided people with a wealth of information only a click away. More widely used now than ever before, the Internet supplies users with easy access to various kinds of information. With the unlimited availability of information on the web today, plagiarism has become a growing problem. The abundance of information available makes it easier and increases the temptation to steal other’s ideas. Plagiarism, which is taking credit for someone else’s ideas, is sometimes committed intentionally and other times accidentally. Often, copyrights are violated. In order to prevent this crime form being committed it is necessary that society is educated about copyright law and understands how to properly cite source material. Today, large number of people uses the Internet as a reference source as it contains a plethora of information, and documents found on the web can be of great use when doing research. However, if ideas, concepts, or words are taken from another author’s work, they must be properly cited. If they are not properly cited this is plagiarism, which is considered to be unethical act by society; it also violates copyright law, and thus is punishable by law. Often people do not realize that even if they are only paraphrasing or summarizing someone else’s work, idea, or concept and not directly quoting it they are still plagiarizing. Borrowing another person’s idea is permissible if credit is given to whom it is due. 

Plagiarism – Using someone else’s work into one’s own work, with or without their consent and then offering it as own without any acknowledgment whether it is intentional or unintentional.

There can be different types of plagiarism on the basis of the degree to which the copying has been done. Firstly, there is "The Ghost Writer" in which the writer turns in another's work, word-for-word, as his or her own. This, in other words, is the verbatim copy of another person's work. Secondly, there is "The Photocopy" in which the writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single source, without doing any alteration. Thirdly there is "The Potluck Paper" in which the writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different sources, altering a few sentences and paragraphs here and there to make them fit together while retaining most of the original phrasing. Another type of plagiarism is "The Self-Stealer" where the writer "borrows" generously from his or her previous works, thus violating policies concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most of the academic institutions. The common thread among all of the above types is that in all of the above the source of the original work is not cited.

Types of plagiarism

1. Copy-Paste Plagiarism

Any time you copy a sentence or significant phrase intact from a source, you must use quotation marks and reference the source.

2. Word Switch Plagiarism

If you take a sentence from a source and change around a few words, it is still plagiarism. If you want to quote a sentence, then you need to put it in quotation marks and cite the author and article. But quoting Source articles should only be done if what the quote says is particularly useful in the point you are trying to make in what you are writing. In many cases, a quotation would not really be useful. The person who plagiarizes is sometimes just too lazy to synthesize the ideas expressed in the Source article.

3. Metaphor Plagiarism

Metaphors are used either to make an idea clearer or give the reader an analogy that touches the senses or emotions better than a plain description of the object or process. Metaphors, then, are an important part of an author's creative style. If you cannot come up with your own metaphor to illustrate an important idea, then use the metaphor in the Source Article, but give the author credit for it.

4. Idea Plagiarism

If the author of the source article expresses a creative idea or suggests a solution to a problem, the idea or solution must be clearly attributed to the author. A WORD ABOUT "COMMON KNOWLEDGE" Students seem to have a hard time distinguishing author's ideas and/or solutions from common knowledge, or public domain information. Common knowledge or public domain is any idea or solution which people in the field accept as general knowledge.

5. Reasoning Style/Organization Plagiarism

When you follow a Source Article sentence-by-sentence or paragraph-by-paragraph, it is plagiarism, even though none of your sentences are exactly like those in the Source article or even in the same order. What you are copying in this case is the author's reasoning style.

Laws concerned with Plagiarism

Plagiarism is governed by Section 57 and Section 63 and Section 63 (a) of Copyright Act, 1957.

As per Section 57 of the Act, provide authors the right (special right)

to claim authorship of their work

to detain or claim damages in respect of any modification, distortion, mutilation, or other act related to the said work which is done before the expiration of the term of copyright if such act would be damaging to his honour or reputation

The Section 63 of the Act states punishment for the offence of breach of rights convened under this Act.

The offender shall be punishable with imprisonment. The term for the offence may vary from six months to three years. The lawbreaker may have to compensate in terms of money i.e. fine which may range from fifty thousand rupees to two lakh rupees. Or both imprisonment and fine.

Where the violation of the rights was not made for gain in the way of business or trade, the court may for special reasons (stated in the judgment) carry out a sentence of imprisonment of less than six months or fine of less than fifty thousand rupees.

The Section 63(a) of the Act states punishment for the offence of breach of rights convened under this Act for the second time.

The offender who commits the offence for the second time (again) will be punishable by imprisonment for the term that may vary from one year to three years and with fine varying from one lakh to two lakhs.

Where the violation of the rights for the second time was not made for gain in the way of business or trade, the court may for special reasons (stated in the judgment) carry out a sentence of imprisonment of less than one year or fine of less than one lakh rupees.

The act of Plagiarism is considered as an unethical conduct of a person and not a crime by itself. The breach of the right under the Act is civil wrongs and criminal charges can be filed against the offender. Although the government is trying to make the existing laws stricter to prevent plagiarism but one must morally try not to perform such an act.

Some cases of plagiarism in India:-

1. Sh. Chitrasen Gautam vs. Jawaharlal Nehru University & Ors.

2. B.R films vs. Hollywood studio 20th century Fox

3. Aditya Dayanand Tare vs Union Of India

4. R.G Anand vs M/S. Delux Films & Ors

5. Mohammad Yusuf & Ors vs Prof S K Sopori & Anr

Copyright Infringement vs. Plagiarism

While many people think that copyright infringement and plagiarism is more or less the same thing that is not the case. In a sense, there is some connection between plagiarism and copyright infringement in many situations, but the use of the two terms interchangeably is not correct. Here is some information on how the two are related, as well as how they differ.

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of the creation of another individual. Just about any type of created art form could be included in this category. Such items as articles, stories, books, songs, movie clips, and photographs are all examples of creative works that are copyrighted. Unauthorized use takes place when someone chooses to utilize these copyrighted creations without obtaining permission from the owner. In situations where authorization would involve providing compensation to the owner, the failure to do so would also fall under the heading of copyright infringement.

Plagiarism shares some elements with copyright infringement. Both situations can involve the unauthorized use of intellectual property. However, it is possible to plagiarize without infringing on a copyright. For example, if a student preparing a report chooses to use a quote from a source and does not properly cite the original source, he or she is essentially claiming the quote to be his or her own words. This amounts to stealing the words of another person. While the quote may be from a work in the public domain and is not subject to any claims of compensation, plagiarism has still taken place. Federal laws in many countries protect the interests of citizens who hold copyrights. When those copyrighted works are used without permission, the owner has legal recourse to collect damages as well as receive a share of any revenue generated from the unauthorized use. In some countries, it is possible for the punishment to include a prison sentence if copyright infringement is proven in a court of law.

By contrast, plagiarism is usually more a matter of ethics than of law. The failure to provide a proper citation for a direct quote will not necessarily carry any type of legal punishment. However, engaging in plagiarism often leads to censure by academic institutions and employers. For example, a writer who presents the work of another writer as his or her own and is caught in the act of plagiarism is likely to be dismissed from the workplace. Freelance writers, who plagiarize often find that word gets around and it becomes extremely difficult to secure assignments. While the chances of going to jail for plagiarism are somewhat limited, the negative impact can have repercussions that will last for years.

Conclusion:-

Stealing is a crime and stealing of words, illustrations, tables, figures, thoughts or ideas can be harder to recognize. This type of stealing is called “Plagiarism”, and it is happening more frequently these days.The act of Plagiarism is considered as an unethical conduct of a person and not a crime by itself. The breach of the right under the Act is civil wrongs and criminal charges can be filed against the offender. Although the government is trying to make the existing laws stricter to prevent plagiarism but one must morally try not to perform such an act.

-:Thank you:-