The internet and social media is the easiest way people can gather all the information they need. Professionals use the internet to advertise their products, gain clientele and even start a business. Laymen use the internet to share their thoughts, interact with old friends and even make newer ones. University and school students use the internet to learn about things that aid them in writing their papers and dissertations.
You can even download movies, music and pictures. In a nutshell the internet is used to gain information. Although, over the years the way the use of the internet has evolved is amusing. No individual can go even a day without using it. The access of the internet is made remarkably easy as individuals now have access to it all times through their phones, tablets and laptops.
What a lot of people tend to forget when using the internet are the internet copyright laws.
Plagiarism
An example of such laws can be understood under the banner of plagiarism. The term itself means to sell someone else’s work as your own. Oftentimes, people have this belief that if they take out information from the internet they can repost it as their own. Though a lot of people tend to do it, this itself is an offense against the copyright laws on which the internet functions.
This means that whatever information that is being taken off the internet cannot be reposted elsewhere as someone else’s work. If some information is being quoted from elsewhere it must be cited properly. The presence of the laws ensures that no content is taken from one place and used elsewhere.
There are many illegal and unauthorized sources now available on the internet that allows individuals to download music and movies. Though the movies and songs are watchable and hearable, they cannot be used elsewhere as the internet laws prohibit the use. Unless the use is authorized by the legal source, no individual can sell it.
Limitations
Though, the internet cannot function as well as it would if the above is completely prohibited, the presence of the laws ensures that certain limitations are introduced. These limitations allow individuals to use presented information in a restricted manner. Such use of available information can be used through terms of fair use.
This way the author whose work is being used is given credit for it in a formal and accepted manner. People can even reconstruct the ide but if it is driven from a single source, the source has to either be mentioned or given credit through valid information. Only then do the criteria of internet law allow it to be posted online trough fair means.
As people are unaware of copyright laws, they are also ignorant of the fact that plagiarism can be caught. Technology has advanced to such a great extent that it has introduced a variety of techniques to get hold of plagiarized material, and hence people should not think that no one will know if they plagiarize anything from the Internet.
It is made relevant through internet laws that the work of each individual is kept safe and its integrity is maintained.
Jean Matthews is the author of this article. She refers to her interaction with DJP Solicitors and recommends them on all law-related issues.