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Student Responsibilities
Most universities and school districts have some type of written procedure concerning copyright, and also written procedures that cover the areas of copyright and plagiarism. These issues are communicated to students in writing both in orientation sessions for students, handbooks sent out at the beginning of the school year and in each individual course offered at the university level. At the college level, guidelines are also placed in a disclaimer on every computer owned by Western Illinois University and any user must agree to this statement before they are permitted login access to use the computer. The disclaimer states, "This system is to be used only by authorized personnel, and all others will be prosecuted. Activities on this system are automatically logged and subject to review. All data on this system is the property of Western Illinois University, which reserves the right to intercept, record, read or disclose it at the sole discretion of authorized personnel. Specifically, system administrators may disclose any information on or about this system to law enforcement or other appropriate individuals. Users should not expect privacy from system review of any data, whether business or personal, even if encrypted or password-protected. WIU abides by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, and takes precautions to prevent the disclosure of confidential information. Use of this system constitutes consent to these terms." With the disclaimer, it is placing the duty of following the policies on each and every user of the system with the use of informed consent.
Furthermore, it is the policy of the University that all students, faculty and staff at the University are responsible for knowing and adhering to academic integrity guidelines as mentioned in the university policy on academic integrity (2007). The communication deals with honesty and integrity of all faculty, staff, and students. It includes information on the complete description of copyright responsibilities including plagiarism, which is an unfortunate and common form of copyright violation prevalent in the classroom.
Western Illinois University’s policy (2007) defines plagiarism within its policy as follows: “Plagiarism is intentionally or knowingly presenting the work of another as one's own. Plagiarism occurs whenever: One quotes another person's actual words or replicates all or part of another's product without acknowledgment. This includes all information gleaned from any source, including the Internet. One uses another person's ideas, opinions, work, data, or theories, even if they are completely paraphrased in one's own words without acknowledgment. One uses facts, statistics, or other illustrative materials without acknowledgment. One fails to acknowledge with a citation any close and/or extended paraphrasing of another. One fails to use quotation marks when quoting directly from another, whether it is a few words, a sentence, or a paragraph.”
It is also important to note that copyright may be an issue not only in text, but in using the ideas and opinions of someone without the appropriate acknowledgement. Using computer files and programs, reports, graphs, photographs, and other creative work without proper acknowledgment is also a form of copyright violation. Additionally, using prior coursework without the express consent of the previous and current instructors would be deemed a violation in the context of this discussion. Each individual instructor may vary greatly on what they do and don’t allow; therefore it is imperative to check with the individual instructor if one is unclear on whether one’s work would be deemed a violation of the academic policies governing copyright or plagiarism at the university.
The responsibility of the student includes the policies of complicity as it relates to copyright. Failing to report such incidents could make a person liable in the same way as the individual committing the actual violation of the offense. The procedure from the 2007 Univerity Policy on Academic Integrity state,"Complicity in academic dishonesty or knowingly helping, or attempting to help another commit and acto of academic dishonesty. Complicity includes permitting another student to copy one's work during an examination or allowing another student to copy one's paper, lab report, computer program, or other assignments. Taking an examinaiton or any portion of a course for another student; writing a paper, lab report, computer program, or other assignments for another student. These are but a few of the items and this wiki is not the final authority on the subject and makes no reference to being the legal authority of rules governing copyright violations. These issues are best clarified with the legal counsel of the university as well as the consequences for noncompliance.
The scope of this issue is much larger than space permits in this wiki, but all of the rules governing copyright for Western Illinois University can be accessed via the links below. As students, it is important to know the copyright policies of the school district or university of attendance. Such policies cover the use of copyrighted materials, whether cited or uncited, copied with permission or not; the policies of the institution should state how copyrighted material should be handled and the consequences of non-compliance.
Works Cited
Western Illinois University, (2007). Western Illinois University Vice President Administrative Services. Retrieved October 4, 2007, from Official University Policy Manual Web site: http://www.wiu.edu/policies/computeruse.php
Western Illinois University, (2007). Western Illinois University Vice President Administrative Services. Retrieved October 4, 2007, from Official University Policy Manual Web site: http://www.wiu.edu/policies/aciintegrity.php
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