Please watch the videos on this page for information regarding Plagiarism, how it violates the ASU Honor Code, the consequences of violating it, and tips on how NOT to plagiarize. Additional information on how to cite sources in order to avoid plagiarism can be found on the Citing Sources page.
A topic related to the ethical concept of plagiarism is copyright. A person representing someone else's work as his/her own without the author's permission commits a legal violation. So if a student takes someone else's "intellectual property" from a book, article, or web page, their action is not just unethical; they may also be doing something illegal (violating copyright). This may have additional consequences beyond those stated in the ASU Honor Code, and could include fines and even jail time. Copyright does not necessarily prohibit a limited use of someone else's work, particularly in an academic context. In most of these cases it is OK to use a limited portion of a work as long as the original creator is given proper credit. However, one should always keep in mind that producers of information do have ownership rights, and one should ask permission before using/copying a large amount or important part of material, particularly outside of higher education. Please remember that plagiarizing and violating copyright may have consequences not only while in college, but also out of higher ed. It is best to get in the good habit of citing sources and possibly getting permission from the original producer as opposed to getting in trouble!
Librarian's Hint: Did you know that under U.S. copyright law, written works are considered copyrighted as soon as they are published, even though they don't have a © on them? That means every web page that you find has already been "copyrighted."