What does it mean to plagiarize? Plagiarize: to steal and pass off (ideas or words of another) as one’s own; use a created production without crediting.

What does it mean to plagiarize? Plagiarize: to steal and pass off (ideas

or words of another) as one’s own; use a created production without crediting the source; to commit literary theft; to present as new an original idea or product derived from an existing source (Bramer).

Plagiarism is a serious offense! It comes in many forms, such as direct quotes, summaries or paraphrases that do not cite authorship or reference sources used to get the information that is cited.

Plagiarism can lead to serious consequences. In some cases suspension, hefty fines, or even jail time! (Bramer).

Some colleges and universities have penalties that can cause a student to fail the course, be suspended or dismissed from the college, or even have their degrees rescinded (Harris 163).

Under some circumstances you may even lose your job or career!

Plagiarism infringes on copyright laws. Copyright laws exist to protect our

intellectual property. They make it illegal to reproduce someone else’s expression of ideas or information without permission. This includes music, images, written words, video, and a variety of other media (Maag).

Brooklyn rapper, Blahz, recently revealed via an appearance on The Wendy Williams radio show that he has filed a lawsuit in the Manhattan U.S. District Court against Wyclef Jean for copyright infringement. He claims the rapper allegedly sampled one of his past songs, "Danger," for the first single from his latest album Carnival 2 called "Welcome To The East,” without permission (Bennet).

In more extreme cases you can receive hefty fines and even be sent to jail for acts of plagiarism.

Misdemeanor fines range from $100-50,000 and up to 1 year in jail.

Felony charges in certain states can be up to 10 years in jail! (Maag).

What have we learned? The three main consequences we want to

avoid by ALWAYS citing correctly are:* So we don’t fail or get kicked out of

school * So we don’t get sued * So we don’t have to pay fines or go to jail

This is serious business folks; I hope you were paying attention!

Bennett, Miles. “Wyclef Jean Being Sued For Copyright Infringement.” Ballerstatus.com 10 Jan 2008. 22 June 2008

<http://www.hiphop-elements.com/article/read/4/13675/1>.

Bramer, Scott. “What is Plagiarism?” Widener.edu 13 Aug. 1996. Widener

University. 22 June 2008 <http://science.widener.edu/svb/essay/ plagiar.html>.

Harris, Muriel. The Writer’s FAQs A Pocket Handbook. 3rd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007.

Maag, William. “Plagiarism FAQ.” Maaglibrary.com. Youngstown State University. 22 June 2008 <http://www.ysu.edu/maag/find/FAQ_plag.html>.