Contested texts: issues of plagiarism
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005595 |
| Pages | 311-318 |
| Date | 01 September 2001 |
| Published date | 01 September 2001 |
| Author | Stuart Hannabuss |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Contested texts: issues
of plagiarism
Stuart Hannabuss
Introduction
What is mine is mine and what is yours is
yours is a popular view of property ownership.
It does not preclude sharing, or assigning, or
giving things away. But it is predicated on the
notion that goods are exclusive and rival.
With ideas and texts this is not always the
case. Ideas and texts are, usually, creative and
original representations of information and
knowledge, opinion and interpretation,
explanation and insight. Information, seen in
the widest sense, is non-exclusive and non-
rival, since what I know I can readily tell you
without forgoing any right to the original
information. Even if I charge you for it, I still
know and have it. Clearly, when we are
dealing with information, ideas and texts,
then, we are in an area where rigid notions of
property and ownership may need to be
redefined.
That said, creative and original intellectual
property has been protected by copyright,
patent and trademark law for many years. The
rationale is that it is economically fair and
morally right to protect original creative
investment, both intellectual and economic.
The notion also predicates a view of the
``author'' or ``creator'' as someone (or some
group) entitled, by social convention, to have
its sui generis rights safeguarded against the
predations of others, say in the form of
copyright infringement, passing off, or
plagiarism.
There is clearly a mixture of legal,
intellectual, social, professional, and moral
issues here. There are also matters of
reputation, acceptance, shame, economic
loss, self-esteem, and indignation. Although it
is getting more complex because of electronic
dissemination, copyright infringement is a
statutory offence where breaking the law
seems to be clear. Increasingly, too,
interpretations and procedures associated
with fair dealing/use, particularly those reliant
on licences and contracts (terms of use), are
attempting to arbitrate between acceptable
and unacceptable practice.
With plagiarism, matters appear to be clear:
traditional approaches emphasise that it is
theft, an offence, with effective sanctions in
the socialising and disciplining domains of
appropriate fields (say, science or literature).
Plagiarism is the unauthorised use or close
imitation of the ideas and language/expression
of someone else. It involves representing their
The author
Stuart Hannabuss is a Lecturer in Management, School
of Information and Media, The Robert Gordon University,
Aberdeen, Scotland.
Keywords
Internet, Intellectual property, Copyright
Abstract
Popular views of plagiarism are based on the concept of
original authorship and the moral and economic
implications of it. Plagiarism itself is usually linked with
academic misconduct by students and by teachers/
lecturers/writers. Reaction by institutions and professional
groups tends to be one of discipline and punishment, at
times in law, most often by gatekeeping bodies. The
growth of the Internet has made gatekeeping difficult.
Academic life tries to balance gatekeeping with
facilitation, and this dialectic presents real challenges
today, above all where collaborative writing is concerned.
Post-modern views of authors and texts add to the
complexity. It is suggested that popular views of
plagiarism may not be flexible enough.
Electronic access
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311
Library Management
Volume 22 .Number 6/7 .2001 .pp. 311±318
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0143-5124
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