<p>xiggi, I have to thank you for posting that link. I have gotten more than a few chuckles reading through some of the posts--in particular the strange emails and the excuses for missed classes/work. Like some of the above posters, I view that forum as a venting place. I know from working in the medical world, that nonmedical people would not appreciate the humor or antecdotes voiced in the nurses station or the physicians' lounge.</p>
<p>This is pure gold, I will read these threads whenever I feel like slacking off on school work...like right now : D</p>
<p>tokenadult: USC Title 17, Section 408 ( <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ht...8----000-.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ht...8----000-.html</a> ) - that's the Copyright Act of 1976, more or less - states: </p>
<p>"...registration is not a condition of copyright protection."</p>
<p>Title 17, Section 501 reads: "Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner as provided by sections 106 through 122 or of the author as provided in section 106A (a), or who imports copies or phonorecords into the United States in violation of section 602, is an infringer of the copyright or right of the author, as the case may be."</p>
<p>Title 17, Section 102 a(1) defines 'literary works' as protected material. An academic paper would be considered a literary work.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do you have any legal authority to back up that statement? Citations, please
[/quote]
</p>
<p>From the copyright office:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright
[/quote]
</p>
<p>and: </p>
<p>
[quote]
Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression
[/quote]
</p>
<p>and:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright. (See following note.) There are, however, certain definite advantages to registration. See “Copyright Registration.”</p>
<p>Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or LPs. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (“copies”) or in phonograph disks (“phonorecords”), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date
[/quote]
</p>
<p>and:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following . . . To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords . . . To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So, yes, I suppose that if the paper does represent an original work of authorship by the student, and if there is no agreement to the contrary buried somewhere in the "contract" between the student and the university (for what it's worth, in the graduate school world the work by graduate students using university equipment or created as part of their relationship with the university is owned by the university), then the student does own the copyright in the work, and it can't be electronically copied and passed around. </p>
<p>But I doubt something like that would rise to the level of being a criminal act. Probably a simple copyright infringement civil-law claim. Interesting argument, though, and one I really haven't thought of. </p>
<p>Just stream of consciousness thinking, I wonder if a work created as an assignment could be a "work made for hire"?</p>
<p>I believe that there is a rule about fair use. Otherwise, no quotation would be possible.</p>
<p>It would be an interesting use of "fair use" -- generally, fair use includes "the use of a copyrighted work . . . . for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. I think sending around multiple copies of a work to people who really have absolutely no use for it for the simple reason of having those people try to find out if the student cheated doesn't fit within "teaching", but I suppose it's a gray area. </p>
<p>FWIW, the following is from William and Mary's Intellectual Property Policy:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Students can act in two capacities: as students, or as employees. When acting as employees, students can be agents of either the College or an individual College employee (their "principal").</p>
<p>When they act in the capacity of students, they own the IP rights to the contributions to works and inventions they have created. When they act as agents, ownership of their works and inventions accords with the rules of this policy that would apply if their principal had created the works and inventions.</p>
<p>Examples:</p>
<p>Students own the IP rights to their contributions to exam answers, research papers written as course assignments, Master's theses, Doctoral dissertations, and laboratory work product completed as part of normal course instruction.</p>
<p>A graduate student works with a faculty member as part of the student’s research for a dissertation. Both student and faculty member contribute equally to what proves to be a patentable invention. Both student and faculty member are joint owners of the resulting patent. If the rules of this Policy give patent ownership to the College, then the College owns the faculty member’s share; the student continues to own the student’s share. The "share" of ownership is determined in accordance with federal copyright and patent law regarding jointly owned works and inventions.</p>
<p>A faculty member has a graduate student working as a research assistant. Both student and faculty member contribute equally to what proves to be a patentable invention. The student is acting as an agent of the faculty member. The determination of College ownership of the resulting intellectual property is made as if the faculty member had created the intellectual property alone.</p>
<p>A faculty member hires a student research assistant, paid from College funds, as part of the faculty member’s general obligation to do research. The research assistant is acting under an assigned duty from the faculty member; the faculty member is not acting under an assigned duty. Any IP the student creates is treated as though the faculty member had created it as part of the general obligation to do research
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think sending around multiple copies of a work to people who really have absolutely no use for it for the simple reason of having those people try to find out if the student cheated doesn't fit within "teaching",
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Interesting. Fair use does not apply only to teaching. What about fact-checkers? I presume that one of their tasks is to find out whether a piece is accurate and is the actual work of the author? I don't know whether is makes any difference if the recipients "have absolutely no use for it."</p>
<p>Hmmm, some of these profs sound like they didn't know what they were getting into when taking the job. For the lower skilled population of students, there are ways of teaching that will reach those kids and ensure most will master the material. These student require a different approach than the typical well organized presentation that is classified as good where students have more skills. It is possible for those with lower initial skills to succeed, to learn to write very well, and become intellectually independent. It is the job of those professors to make it so.</p>
<p>Some of the posters on the CHE forum are discussing how to game ratemyprofessors by writing their own reviews!<br>
<a href="http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,31482.0.html%5B/url%5D">http://chronicle.com/forums/index.php/topic,31482.0.html</a></p>
<p>I didn't think professors actually looked at their profiles on RMP.</p>
<p>As I'm not a lawyer, I have no idea to what extent copyright is carried with writings which may have been created by students, where the professor has doubts about who wrote the paper and the intent is to discover whether the student was the author.</p>
<p>If there are legal limits on this practice, obviously the professors should not do it.</p>
<p>At the same time, I am sort of surprised that more posters here are not bothered by the actions of the students revealed by the professors. I'm sure you don't approve of students who don't do the work but expect breaks, right? </p>
<p>In college, the expectation is that the onus of learning is on students. Professors and universities certainly have a role to play, but students need to bring (or develop) much of their own motivation and responsibility. These are the traits they will need for the workplace, graduate education, even as neighbors, family members, and citizens. College is not just about learning material, but developing the independence, autonomy and integrity needed for life.</p>
<p>Fair use of student-written academic papers surely includes (a) grading them, and (b) checking for cheating. To that end, I would be confident that posting segments of a paper in an academic forum for purposes of soliciting help in confirming originality (or not) is fair use. The contrary position would be truly silly.</p>
<p>I was accused of plagiarism my first year in college for something that was 100% original work. It worked out fine. I was able to convince the teacher that I was capable of having written the paper, despite his doubts, and that I had in fact written it, and of course having done that I also won a fair amount of respect from him. But it would have been nice if there had been easy ways for him to check obvious plagiarism back then.</p>
<p>Thank you, JHS. Again, I am not a lawyer, but I would think intent matters. </p>
<p>What do college students need to do in order to prosper? See this document "How to Do Really Well in College" <a href="http://www.oswego.edu/academics/opportunities/honors/program/dowell.html#FollowtheRules%5B/url%5D">http://www.oswego.edu/academics/opportunities/honors/program/dowell.html#FollowtheRules</a> which explains the basics -- go to class, pay attention, follow the rules, be an active part of your education, don't feel entitled, etc.</p>
<p>Posting a part of a paper to solicit info on whether it is plagiarized would be considered "fair use" and thus an exception to the exclusive right to publish under copyright.</p>
<p>By the way, the document linked above is from the Honors Progam of the State University of New York, College at Oswego; Copyright © (1996-2002) SUNY Oswego Honors Program</p>
<p>
[quote]
To that end, I would be confident that posting segments of a paper in an academic forum for purposes of soliciting help in confirming originality (or not) is fair use. The contrary position would be truly silly.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is my general impression, and that is why I posted the reply to the earlier post. I am well aware, although perhaps this was news to other participants, that the creator of a work has copyright as soon as the work is created. But of course a student who copied-and-pasted other people's works has no copyright in the collage, and who else would complain about having his work checked by his professor?</p>
<p>
[quote]
I was accused of plagiarism my first year in college for something that was 100% original work. It worked out fine. I was able to convince the teacher that I was capable of having written the paper, despite his doubts, and that I had in fact written it, and of course having done that I also won a fair amount of respect from him. But it would have been nice if there had been easy ways for him to check obvious plagiarism back then.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Time also frames this discussion! What did the professors do for several centuries before the advent of the internet, unrestricted PUBLIC forums a la CHE, and new technologies? Are we supposed to assume that students of the generations prior to the last two or three ones were a lot more honest, or are we supposed to assume that the teachers simply were UNABLE to identify plagiarism and other deceptions? Or were the teachers better to rely on their instincts. training, or ... knowledge? </p>
<p>Is there really a difference between a student not hesitating to cut and paste from an online source, or one who would take a trip to the library and photocopy an interesting "source" to claim it as his or her own? </p>
<p>Of course, the reproduction must have been harder with quills and peck and hunt typewriters!</p>
<p>Well, there's at least one legal opinion out there that concludes that something like this is indeed fair us. Of course, the opinion was paid for by turnitin.com to justify their service's legality. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.turnitin.com/static/pdf/us_Legal_Document.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.turnitin.com/static/pdf/us_Legal_Document.pdf</a>
<a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6377874.html?rssid=107%5B/url%5D">http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6377874.html?rssid=107</a></p>
<p>
[quote]
At the same time, I am sort of surprised that more posters here are not bothered by the actions of the students revealed by the professors. I'm sure you don't approve of students who don't do the work but expect breaks, right?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>MF, my impression is that everyone is bothered by the actions of cheaters. However, there is a different thread on CC that already dealt with the issue of plagiarism. It is undeniable that the actions of the cheaters and grade-grubbers are not acceptable. </p>
<p>However, going my back to my original post about the student whose paper was supposed to be shared online, it turned out that the paper was legitimate and the product of hard work and not the result of online pilfering or recycling. </p>
<p>And, fwiw, if students' papers are indeed fair use and free to be posted on public forums without the approval of their authors, where do we draw the line? Should admission officers be allowed to broadcast personal statements and personal essays? For the record, once an essay or a part of one is posted on a forum such as CC or CHE, it enters the public domain and will remain there permamently --as opposed to be sent through a private site such as turnitin. I am wondering how anyone might quote THAT work properly, assuming the professor does not divulge the identity and full source of the original work! Is "unknown source" sufficient?</p>
<p>There's been plagiarism for a long time. The internet has made it easier to plagiarize and easier to catch plagiarism.
I recall doing research for a paper in college and stumbling across two works: the first was a Ph.D. dissertation. The second one was a published monograph by a different author. The monograph was a verbatim copy of the dissertation. They happened to be side by side on the library shelf (which is why I picked both). Whoever catalogued the two works had never bothered to read them.
One of of LBJ's appointments, a university president, turned out to have plagiarized. But it took a long time for his sin to catch up with him. </p>
<p>I suspect many a prof shows a student's paper to a colleague to ask the colleague's opinion. Sometimes, it's to show how impressive a paper is; sometimes, it is to ask a second opinion about grading; and sometimes, it is to share one's suspicion that the paper was plagiarized or bought wholesale from someone else. The internet has created virtual communities of people who share their thoughts with people they hae never met (like CC!). But without the internet, such sharing occurs anyway.</p>
<p>
[quote]
about half read at grade level or above, six are on IEPs
[/quote]
Just pointing out that the two aren't mutually exclusive. I had an IEP and read well above grade level.</p>
<p>About the forums:
I don't often agree with xiggi, but I, too, was appalled by some of the comments on the CHE forums. Why are those posters professors? They despise their students, despise their instituational policies, and despise grading the exams they CHOSE to give. I'm glad I didn't find that forum before I went to college; it might have scared me out of the whole process. And I find it exceeding hard to believe all those professors went through 20+ years of education without doing any grade grubbing of their own! I doubt I could ever cheat cheat (I frequently point to my professors wrong answers they forgot to mark wrong on my tests and even dock myself points on quizzes to "even it out"), but if there is a point out there to get, I'm not going to let it slide by. If extra credit is offered, I'll do it (including in a class where I have a 100%+ average). If retaking or rewriting is offered, I'll do it. If I feel my performance in a class is not up to my ability, I'll talk to my professor about it. I don't think that makes me a bad student; in fact, I think it makes me a better one.</p>