Plagiarism involves copying another's work covertly or without authorization.
Plagiarism is both the action and the effect of plagiarizing . This verb, in turn, refers to copying other people's works , usually without authorization or in a covert manner.
Plagiarism - from the Latin word plagium - is therefore a violation of copyright . The creator of a work, or the person who owns the corresponding rights, suffers damage from these illegal copies and is in a position to demand compensation .
Forms of plagiarism
There are basically two ways to plagiarize a work: making illegal copies of a copyrighted work or presenting a copy and passing it off as an original product. Both actions entitle the injured party to take the infringer to court , and the consequences usually consist of the imposition of various types of fines and penalties.
Movies with similar plots, books that feature similar stories, and logos that look too similar are some of the clearest examples of plagiarism. Let's look at some sentences that contain this term: «Argentine author Jorge Bucay was accused of plagiarism for copying texts without citing the sources» , «I don't know if this movie is plagiarism or if the director simply has no imagination» , «Certain Asian appliance factories often plagiarize the names and logos of successful products in an attempt to confuse buyers» .
The line between plagiarism and suspicious similarities is very thin, and it is always possible to claim that the similarities are due to cultural or historical issues, or to a shared inspiration due to belonging to the same era or living in the same country.
Plagiarism can occur in the field of music.
A problem on the Internet
Plagiarism of texts became widespread with the rise of the Internet . Despite the existence of various computer tools that allow the detection of plagiarized material, it is very common to find texts that have been copied directly from an uncited source , and without having requested the relevant authorization.
This phenomenon represents a deception to users and a way of contaminating the information circulating on the Internet.
Video game plagiarism
In the mid- 1980s , mainly from 1982 to 1985, the well-known video game crisis took place, which was characterized by a deep lack of interest on the part of the public in this type of entertainment, and by the closure of several North American computer development and manufacturing companies. One of the main reasons for this phenomenon was the abuse of plagiarism; given the poor intellectual property registration measures by many companies of the time ( Atari being the most remembered), the market was flooded with low-quality clones.
This moment in the history of the entertainment industry clearly demonstrates the risk of plagiarism, when taken to the extreme: consumers lose confidence in the market and, as a consequence, look for new horizons in which to invest their money. On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that the benefits of this unfair practice not only reach its executors, but also the portion of the public that values savings, however small, more than the quality of the products.
Fake brands
Regarding the priorities of certain buyers, there are countless fake brands, imitations of all kinds of products that are offered at prices much lower than the originals and that satisfy those who cannot or do not want to afford a considerable expense.
In the textile industry, plagiarism is completely accepted: a large percentage of people tend to wear garments that were designed "in the image and likeness" of top brand models, with the necessary differences to be able to market them, and with a very different finish.