Plagiarism

[muriel]

A colleague submitted my academic work as his own. Apart from the university internal procedures that has now been instigated, what are my options? Can I sue him for theft of intellectual property?

[R0b]

Re: Plagiarism

You might wish to check that the work is actually yours first of all and not the university's. They may stipulate that any work submitted by you is owned by them so by that meaning you have no entitlement to sue.

Even if you did own the work, what exactly are your losses and how much are you thinking of claiming?

[muriel]

Re: Plagiarism

Thank you for your reply.
I am completely clueless as where to begin and just simply upset with what the colleague had done. I wouldn't know how to calculate my losses, apart from the distress when I found out that a trusted colleague stole my work.
Am I right thinking that since the colleague left, the university won't be able to follow it up either? It seems disappointing that there is no consequences for plagiarism once someone quits the course...

[Diana M]

Re: Plagiarism

just simply upset with what the colleague had done. I wouldn't know how to calculate my losses, apart from the distress when I found out that a trusted colleague stole my work.

I would be jolly upset too. Try to tell yourself that your academic work must have been pretty damn good or he wouldn't have stolen it to pass it off as his own.

As I understand it plagiarism in an ethical offence not a criminal offence unless you had copyrighted your work in which case it would be infringement.

Having said that who knows where your academic work may have ended up and whether it has/had a potential financial value. I'm always reading about famous musicians/pop stars being sued for nicking the lyrics penned by someone unknown many years earlier.

Keep hold of your academic work and keep tabs on your ex-friend in case he tries to profit from it further down the line.

It's small comfort to tell you that you can sleep at night with a clear conscience, while he should lie awake knowing he's stolen your cleverness. Albeit he's probably not intelligent enough to see it that way.

Di x

[Openlaw15]

Re: Plagiarism

You might wish to check that the work is actually yours first of all and not the university's. They may stipulate that any work submitted by you is owned by them so by that meaning you have no entitlement to sue.

Even if you did own the work, what exactly are your losses and how much are you thinking of claiming?

If someone uses all the another's work and passes it off as their own, it is plagiarism. If there is some copying but not all it is more likely breach of copyright. It's not a question of whether the university owns the work being submitted, rather the university merely has possession of the work with an intention to award a grade. The ideas belong to the author and not the university. The property is not physical it's the ideas which effectively amount to economic loss where the other misrepresents the work as his own and for that reason it is potentially fraud. So where the legitimate author suffers via another person who claims the work as his own it can be either plagiarism or copyright. It is also potentially a defamation of character matter where the author (or the alleged author) is accused of plagiarism too.

[R0b]

Re: Plagiarism

I know how intellectual property work and plagiarism works, my university I went to alongside other universities I know of explicitly state that any work submitted in terms of coursework shall belong to the university. Whether that applies to all universities I have no idea, but the fact is you cannot generalise and say the university does not own it and merely has possession.

Rather than making a presumption that the work actually belongs to the student, it's best to check whether or not by submission, the student transfers and waives all rights.

Just like a researcher for the university for example may say that any work produced or submitted shall belong to the university and not the researcher.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Plagiarism

I know how intellectual property work and plagiarism works, my university I went to alongside other universities I know of explicitly state that any work submitted in terms of coursework shall belong to the university. Whether that applies to all universities I have no idea, but the fact is you cannot generalise and say the university does not own it and merely has possession.

Rather than making a presumption that the work actually belongs to the student, it's best to check whether or not by submission, the student transfers and waives all rights.

Just like a researcher for the university for example may say that any work produced or submitted shall belong to the university and not the researcher.

Work submitted belonging to a university is like saying a converse relationship exists, in that the university owns the completed work so may pass it off as though it were of the university's. It doesn't make sense. The university cannot claim title to submitted work as it is not the university's to begin. The ideas simply belong to the author providing that they have adhered to the rules of university in terms of plagiarism policies. The university where plagiarism is detected could in theory refuse to graduate the person where there is evidence of cheating. I cannot fathom though how the university can claim title to another person's works or why it would want to that the effect or result acts as an impediment to the author's tort against the other, as surely that'll be breach of contract by the university and or subject to a judicial review hearing for an ultra vires act or omission, notwithstanding direct tort or vicarious liability against the university itself.

[EXC]

Re: Plagiarism

...some universities and colleges may ask that the students assign their copyright over to the establishment when enrolling

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ownershi...opyright-works

[leclerc]

Re: Plagiarism

Many universities may have a policy on plagiarism. Here's one that is from a well known university: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/

[Guest]

Re: Plagiarism

I was told that if a student was found to guilty of knowingly plagiarising someone's work, not only would they be thrown off the course but also barred from enrolling on another course at any HE establishment.

[R0b]

Re: Plagiarism

[MENTION=332]EXC[/MENTION] So basically what I said in a nutshell.

[EXC]

Re: Plagiarism

@EXC So basically what I said in a nutshell.

Indeed. Just briefly looking around it seems that with most universities in most circumstances the student holds the copyright but there are obviously exceptions which as you say need to be established first.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Plagiarism

Indeed. Just briefly looking around it seems that with most universities in most circumstances the student holds the copyright but there are obviously exceptions which as you say need to be established first.

The exceptions guidance relates to copyrights in part so that universities may accidentally use external sources, or that students may also use other works 'in part', however these exemptions are only in part. The law of tort is not affected in relation to passing the entire works off as your own as it is for commercial use more likely and not for education use. I believe what I said stands.

[R0b]

Re: Plagiarism

The student will not own the rights to the submissions unless it is stated in the conditions of enrolment. The general reason that universities say that the student will give up their rights to the works is because the company who made the Turnitin software has a policy of stipulating that any works submitted through their system will want ownership. So the university will state the student gives up their right to the university and in turn the university gives up their rights to the work when it is submitted through the software.

That will be subject to each university and their agreement they may have with any plagiarism software company they use. So sometimes universities will say works submitted by students will still be owned by those students whereas others will state that the condition of enrolling onto the course is that you give up your rights to the works.

So it will depend on the various colleges/universities as to whether they would specifically state that ownership of the material stays with the student. I do believe however there has been a relaxtion on students giving up ownership of their work in recent years because it could potentially fall foul of the unfair contract terms.

Therefore, I stick to what I have said previously, depending on what was initially agreed at the time of enrolment, the student may or may not own the works submitted.

[Joanna C]

Re: Plagiarism

I have just finished my MBA and was asked at that stage whether I would give permission for the Dissertation to be in the University library.

It is a condition of enrolment where the University uses the Turnitin system that your work can be used for the purposes of checking plagarism. However Turnitin only uses your essays/work for that purpose.