Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of another writer's work without proper acknowledgment (compare credit).

There is some difference of opinion over how much credit must be given when preparing a newspaper article or historical account. Generally, reference is made to original source material as much as possible, and writers avoid taking credit for others' work.

Plagiarism should not be confused with copyright infringement, which is using another writer's work with full acknowledgement, but in a way that violates the exclusive legal rights granted to the author by copyright law.

The term is also not generally applied to the use of works in the public domain, such as Wikipedia's use of material from the CIA World Factbook, or to use of mere facts rather than works of creative expression.

Famous examples of plagiarism:

• Helen Keller was accused of plagiarism as a young girl for a school composition. Mortified, she determined to have all future compositions screened by her friends before submission.
• Alex Haley settled a suit out of court after he admitted incorporating uncredited material in his historical novel Roots.
• George Harrison was successfully sued for plagiarizing (though perhaps unconsciously) the Chiffons' "He's So Fine" for the melody of his own "My Sweet Lord".
• Senator Joseph Biden was forced to withdraw from the 1988 Democratic Presidential nominations when it was revealed he had failed a course in law school due to plagiarism. It was also shown that he had plagiarised several campaign speeches, notably those of Robert F. Kennedy.