What Is the Meaning of Plagiarist?
A plagiarist, simply put, is a person who commits plagiarism, which boils down to literary theft, according to the website Plagiarism.org. An act of fraud, plagiarism involves stealing another’s literary work and passing it off as your own. Penalties for criminal plagiarism offenses can involve paying fines up to $250,000 and serving up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Copyright Office.
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Definition
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In an academic situation, turning in a paper written by someone else as your own work would be an example of plagiarism, making you the plagiarist, according to the Plagiarism.org website. Using another person's ideas or words and failing to put them in quotation marks and not referencing or acknowledging the proper person is plagiarism.
Types
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Plagiarism is not always a clear issue, according to the Plagiarism.org website. Plagiarists can use different types of "stealing" to accomplish their deed. The most obvious act of plagiarism is when a writer submits a literary work as his or her own when it has actually been copied word-for-word from another person's work. Some plagiarists try to "disguise" their fraudulent work by paraphrasing, such as changing a few key words here and there or simply rearranging the same words. However, the essential content remains the same and is still not considered the plagiarist's original work. Some plagiarists are slier in their theft. For example, they might cite fabricated sources to give the appearance of being legitimate.
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Copyright Laws
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Plagiarism is a violation of the copyright law, and the true author can sue the plagiarist in federal court, according to the website Check For Plagiarism. Copyright law as of March 1, 1989, protects any work created after that date whether or not there is a copyright symbol listed on the work. Regardless of the extent of original work in the document, a plagiarist is still guilty of a copyright violation if any portion of the work is not his or her own and is not properly cited.
Fraud
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Copyright issues aside, the least criminal act performed by a plagiarist is fraud, according to the Check For Plagiarism website. Plagiarists knowingly put their name on a document, concealing the true author, and submit the work for some type of remuneration, monetary or otherwise. In doing so, the plagiarist commits fraud, which is also unlawful and punishable through legal means.
Penalties
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The degree of intent can factor into a plagiarism charge based on what courts call the “good faith defense,” according to the FAQ section of the Plagiarism.org website. Legally, routine cases of plagiarism are misdemeanors, punishable by fines anywhere from $100 to $50,000 and one year of jail time. However, depending on monetary gain, the literary theft can be judged as a felony. In that case, and also in the case of subsequent offenses, the plagiarist may then face up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
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