And
then there's Copyright
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opyright
insures that the person who created something--whether a book
or a piece of music--is reimbursed for his/her intellectual
work. If there were no copyright protection, there would be
no economic incentive to create these works. You must cite
every source used regardless of whether it is protected by copyright
or is in the public domain. |
A copyright is a
set of legal rights that an author has over his/her work for a limited
period of time. Copyright covers everything from using images or sound
files from the Web to photocopying.
Most information is protected
by copyright. The exception is work that is in the "public domain,
" which can be reproduced or used by anyone. However, you still
must credit the author. Some examples of public domain sources:
Public
Domain Sources |
Examples |
Publications
of the U.S. Government |
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U.S.
laws and other publications of the Federal government, the U.S. Constitution |
Copyright
has been waived by the author. |
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Software called
freeware |
Works
on which the copyright has expired |
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Works
by William Shakespeare |
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