CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

The Final draft for the fulfilment of project of “Intellectual Property

Laws”

On

“Infringement of Copyright vs Plagiarism”

Submitted to:- Dr. Prof. S. C. Roy

Faculty of Intellectual Property Laws

Submitted by: - Abhinav Prasad

Roll no.1605

4th Year B.B.A.L.L.B (Hons)

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 CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................................... 5

DECLARATION .................................................................................................................. 6

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................................................................... 7

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................... 7

SCOPE AND LIMITATION ................................................................................................. 7

Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 8

Plagiarism? ........................................................................................................................... 9

Types of Plagiarism: .......................................................................................................... 9

Laws concerned with Plagiarism ...................................................................................... 10

Copyright ............................................................................................................................ 12

Kinds of Copyright .......................................................................................................... 13

Meaning of Copyright Infringement ................................................................................ 13

When does Copyright infringement occur? ...................................................................... 14

Actions against Copyright Infringement........................................................................... 14

Difference between Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism ................................................ 16

Similarities between Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism .............................................. 18

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 19

Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 20

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Writing a project is one of the most difficult academic challenges I have ever faced. Though
this project has been presented by me but there are many people who remained in veil, who
gave their support and helped me to complete this project.

First of all I am very grateful to my subject teacher Dr. Prof. S. C. Roy without the kind support
of whom and help the completion of the project would have been a herculean task for me. She
took out time from his busy schedule to help me to complete this project and suggested me
from where and how to collect data.

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.B.A.LL.B (Hons.) Project Report entitled
“INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT VS PLAGIARISM” submitted at Chanakya
National Law University, Patna is an authentic record of my work carried out under the
supervision of Dr. Prof. S. C. Roy. I have not submitted this work elsewhere for any other
degree or diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my Project Report.

Abhinav Prasad

4th year

B.B.A.LL.B

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The researcher will emphasize and use the doctrinal method for this project topic.

The researcher will be collecting valuable data from library which includes the written works
and from the field. All these data will help the researcher to solve his research problem. All the
books, journals, articles published in newspapers, bodies, reports. The researcher will make
use of doctrinal. The doctrinal process includes the use of literary source.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To study the differences and similarity between infringement of copyright & plagiarism

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

This project is limited in its scope due to paucity of time, multiplicity of areas to be covered
due to inherent vastness of the subject matter and limited financial resources. However, the
reasearcher has aimed to keep a fairly broad scope in order to gain a complete picture of the
topic.

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 Introduction
The evolution of copyright has been closely linked to technological development. Whereas,
most of the technologies made copyright protection more difficult, digital computers managed
to alter the fundamental concepts behind copyright. Copyrights have a great influence on
majority of library activities. They shape the type of services offered by libraries to their users
and the conditions on which a library can offer access to materials protected by copyright. As
a result, copyright affect the way libraries can function and conduct activities such as storing,
protecting and making their collections available.

Copyright is explained as “a procedure whereby the originator of a piece of intellectual

property (book, article, piece of music etc.) acquires a series of rights over the work created,
including copying, publishing, performing, broadcasting and adaptation. The changing world
and multiplicity of items led to substantial changes in copyright legislation and international
agreements, current technological advances have put copyright law under stress again.”

Plagiarism has always been a difficulty in publishing but the problem has aggravated with the
unauthorized re-use of material found on the Internet. It can be intentional or non intentional.
Plagiarism is explained as “using another person’s work and publishing it as one’s own without
payment or acknowledgement”.

Plagiarism is not the same as copyright infringement. While both the terms may apply to a
particular act, they are different terms, and false claims of authorship may subject to plagiarism
regardless of whether the material is protected by copyright or not. It is considered an ethical
offense and can be harmful to one's academic reputation and honesty.

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 Plagiarism?
Oxford English Dictionary defines Plagiarism as the "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing
and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the
representation of them as one's own original work.

The word 'plagiarism' comes from the Latin word 'plagiare' which means "to kidnap".

The boundary between plagiarism and research is often unclear. Learning to recognize the
various forms of plagiarism, especially the more ambiguous ones, is an important step towards
effective prevention. Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing
someone else's original ideas.

Types of Plagiarism:
There can be different types of plagiarism on the basis of the degree to which the copying has
been done. Firstly, there is "The Ghost Writer" in which the writer turns in another's work,
word-for-word, as his or her own. This, in other words, is the verbatim copy of another person's
work. Secondly, there is "The Photocopy" in which the writer copies significant portions of
text straight from a single source, without doing any alteration. Thirdly there is "The Potluck
Paper" in which the writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different
sources, altering a few sentences and paragraphs here and there to make them fit together while
retaining most of the original phrasing. Another type of plagiarism is "The Self-Stealer" where
the writer "borrows" generously from his or her previous works, thus violating policies
concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most of the academic institutions. The
common thread among all of the above types is that in all of the above the source of the original
work is not cited1.

Following are some types where although the sources are cited, yet they are said to have been
plagiarized works. One of the most common of these is "The Forgotten Footnote". In this the
writer mentions an author's name for a source, but neglects to include specific information on
the location of the material referenced. This often masks other forms of plagiarism by obscuring
source locations. Yet another type of these is "The Resourceful Citer". This is where the line
between compiling and plagiarizing seems to be too thin to be noticed. The writer here properly
cites all sources, paraphrasing and using quotations appropriately. But the catch is that the
paper contains almost no original work. It is sometimes difficult to spot this form of plagiarism

1
http://www.legalserviceindia.com/article/l222-Plagiarism.html

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because it looks like any other well-researched document. And lastly, there is "The
Misinformer". Here the writer provides inaccurate information regarding the sources, making
it impossible for anyone interested in finding them at all.

Sometimes there are cases where even though the author has never read an article or the piece
but has committed plagiarism unknowingly. One may choose to write on the same topic as the
other but the odds are that he may even convey the same ideas and express them similarly in
his paper also. If this does happen, it is highly unlikely that one will be accused of plagiarism.
But one has to be definitely careful of accidental plagiarisms where one could have read a piece
and forgotten that he had actually read it somewhere. This is because if one's ideas turn out to
have been influenced by a source that you read but failed to cite for any reason, you could be
guilty of plagiarism. 2

Although there can be many such cases resulting into plagiarism, most of them cannot be
proved to be illegal. This is because there lays a vast gap between plagiarism and copyright
protection (which is protected under the law) though the former can be said to be a type of
copyright infringement also. The copyright Act makes a clear distinction between an
'expression' and an 'idea'. While an expression is that which is protected by the law against
copying, idea does not avail of any such cover. Here I would also like to bring out the difference
between plagiarism and paraphrasing. It is extremely important to note that changing a few
words from an original source does NOT qualify as paraphrasing. This is plagiarizing. A
paraphrase must make significant changes in the style and voice of the original while retaining
the essential ideas. Plagiarism can be said to be a combination of stealing and lying. It should
be remembered that paraphrasing is also type of plagiarism. Paraphrasing when the original
statement is still identifiable and has no acknowledgement, is plagiarism.

Laws concerned with Plagiarism

Plagiarism is governed by Section 57 and Section 63 and Section 63 (a) of Copyright Act,
1957.

As per Section 57 of the Act, provide authors the right (special right)

 to claim authorship of their work

2
https://www.nrilegalservices.com/laws-relating-to-plagiarism-in-india/

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  to detain or claim damages in respect of any modification, distortion, mutilation, or
other act related to the said work which is done before the expiration of the term
of copyright if such act would be damaging to his honour or reputation

The Section 63 of the Act states punishment for the offence of breach of rights convened under
this Act.

 The offender shall be punishable with imprisonment. The term for the offence may vary
from six months to three years. The lawbreaker may have to compensate in terms of
money i.e. fine which may range from fifty thousand rupees to two lakh rupees. Or both
imprisonment and fine.

 Where the violation of the rights was not made for gain in the way of business or trade,
the court may for special reasons (stated in the judgment) carry out a sentence of
imprisonment of less than six months or fine of less than fifty thousand rupees.

The Section 63(a) of the Act states punishment for the offence of breach of rights convened
under this Act for the second time.

 The offender who commits the offence for the second time (again) will be punishable
by imprisonment for the term that may vary from one year to three years and with fine
varying from one lakh to two lakhs.

 Where the violation of the rights for the second time was not made for gain in the way
of business or trade, the court may for special reasons (stated in the judgment) carry out
a sentence of imprisonment of less than one year or fine of less than one lakh rupees.

The act of Plagiarism is considered as an unethical conduct of a person and not a crime by
itself. The breach of the right under the Act is civil wrongs and criminal charges can be filed
against the offender.3 Although the government is trying to make the existing laws stricter to
prevent plagiarism but one must morally try not to perform such an act

3
https://www.nrilegalservices.com/laws-relating-to-plagiarism-in-india/

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 Copyright
Copyright is a right given by the law to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works
and producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings. In fact, it is a bundle of rights
including, inter alia, rights of reproduction, communication to the public, adaptation and
translation of the work. There could be slight variations in the composition of the rights
depending on the work.

Fundamentally, copyright is a law that gives you ownership over the things you create. Be it a
painting, a photograph, a poem or a novel, if you created it, you own it and it’s the copyright
law itself that assures that ownership. 4 The ownership that copyright law grants comes with
several rights that you, as the owner, have exclusively. Those rights include:

 The right to reproduce the work

 to prepare derivative works

 to distribute copies

 to perform the work

 and to display the work publicly

These are your rights and your rights alone. Unless you willingly give them up (EX: A Creative
Commons License), no one can violate them legally. This means that, unless you say otherwise,
no one can perform a piece written by you or make copies of it, even with attribution, unless
you give the OK.

Why should copyright be protected?

Copyright ensures certain minimum safeguards of the rights of authors over their creations,
thereby protecting and rewarding creativity. Creativity being the keystone of progress, no
civilized society can afford to ignore the basic requirement of encouraging the same. Economic
and social development of a society is dependent on creativity. The protection provided by
copyright to the efforts of writers, artists, designers, dramatists, musicians, architects and
producers of sound recordings, cinematograph films and computer software, creates an

4
https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/stopping-internet-plagiarism/your-copyrights-online/1-what-is-a-copyright/

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atmosphere conducive to creativity, which induces them to create more and motivates others
to create5.

Kinds of Copyright
Under Section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957, copyright exists in the following works:

1. Literary work (including computer programmes, tables, and compilations including

computer literary databases)

2. Dramatic work

3. Musical work

4. Artistic work

5. Cinematograph films

6. Sound recordings

Meaning of Copyright Infringement

Use of any copyrighted work without the permission of the owner amounts to copyright
infringement. Infringement occurs when a person intentionally or unintentionally copies/uses
the work of another without credit. Infringement is usually classified into two categories-
primary infringement and secondary infringement.

Primary infringement is the actual act of copying, while secondary infringement includes
unauthorised dealings like selling the pirated books, importing, etc. In the case of secondary
infringement, knowledge of infringement is present with the infringer while in the case of
primary infringement, knowledge may or may not be present. 6

Which are the common copyright infringements?

The following are some of the commonly known acts involving infringement of copyright:

i. Making infringing copies for sale or hire or selling or letting them for hire;

ii. Permitting any place for the performance of works in public where such
performance constitutes infringement of copyright;

5
http://copyright.gov.in/documents/handbook.html
6
https://www.lawyered.in/legal-disrupt/articles/what-copyright-infringement-india/

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 iii. Distributing infringing copies for the purpose of trade or to such an extent so as
to affect prejudicially the interest of the owner of copyright ;

iv. Public exhibition of infringing copies by way of trade; and

v. Importation of infringing copies into India.

When does Copyright infringement occur?

In India, copyright infringement occurs when-

1. Copies of copyrighted work are made for sale/hire without permission or authority, like
in the case of online piracy.

2. A copyrighted work is performed in a public place.

3. Infringing copies are distributed for the purpose of trade and personal gains.

4. Public exhibition of infringing copies by way of trade prejudicial to the owner.

5. Infringing copies are imported from another country into India.

Actions against Copyright Infringement

The key requirements for taking an action against copyright infringement include:

1. Proof of ownership of copyright.

2. Substantial similarity between the original and the infringed copy.

3. Copying amounts to improper appropriation.

The first thing to do is to send a legal notice for copyright infringement to the person or entity
guilty of copyright violation. In the case of online copyright infringement, a takedown notice
may be sent to the person or company involved. A copyright owner can take several actions
against copyright infringement under the civil and criminal laws. 7

The civil actions against copyright infringement are given under Section 55 of the Copyright
Act, 1957. Under a civil action against copyright infringement, the court can grant the
following reliefs:

7
https://www.myadvo.in/blog/copyright-infringement-in-india/

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1. Interlocutory Injunction: It is the most important relief as it prevents the infringer
from doing anything that amounts to copyright infringement.

2. Financial Relief: Under Section 55 and Section 58 of the Copyright Act, the copyright
owner can claim three remedies- profits which lets the owner get the profits made
through an unlawful act, compensatory damages and conversion damages calculated
according to the value of the infringing article.

3. Anton Pillar Order: It restrains the infringer from dealing in infringing goods or
destroying them. It also allows the copyright owner and his lawyer to enter and search
the premises of the infringer and take goods into safe custody. Under this order, the
infringer is required to disclose the names of all the suppliers and customers of
infringing goods.

4. Mareva Injunction: It is an order under which the court gets temporary custody of
infringing goods, thereby preventing any chances of disposal.

5. Norwich Pharmacal Order: It is passed to discover information from a third party.

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 Difference between Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism
Copyright infringement is illegal to use of work that is protected under the copyright law
without due permission from the author. The author has exclusive rights to reproduction of the
work. The duration of copyright varies depending on the work that is being protected. For
original literature, musical drama artworks, the duration is a lifetime of the author and sixty
years after the death of the author. For movies, photograph or government work the protection
is for sixty years counted from the date of publication. Any infringement of copyright does not
only lead to civil remedies like an injunction, damages or a share of profit to the author and
cost of legal proceeding but it is also a cognizable offense. The punishment can range from six
months to three years with a fine ranging from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 2, 00,000.If there are multiple
complaints about subsequent offenses of plagiarism, there are provisions to increase the fine,
and give harsh punishment. There are also provisions to file a complaint which is first
information report (FIR) with the police and seize the infringed material without court
intervention.Foreign national who want to copyright their work in India will be protected under
the copyright act if their country is a signatory to the conventions that have been signed by
India. They shall be protected through International Copyright order, 1999. Indian court pays
special attention to protection of work of foreign authors such as software, motion pictures,
etc8.

A copyright owner has various rights such as

 To publish his work

 To produce or be able to reproduce the original work

 Make multiple copies of the work

 Prevent any unauthorized use of the copyrighted work

Plagiarism, however, is considered to be an ethical issue. Here, the work of the author is used
without giving him due credit. Plagiarism does not only include exact works of the author, but
it also incorporates the use of ideas of another person without giving credit to the original
author. Section 57 of the copyright act give the author a special right to claim authorship of his
work even without having copyright of the work.The punishment for plagiarism is that same

8
http://www.mondaq.com/india/x/406982/Licensing+Syndication/Copyright+Law+In+India

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as the punishment for copyright infringement. The punishments are mentioned under section
63 and 70 of the copyright act. These offenses are bailable offenses.

Further, Section 63 of the Copyright Act which deals with infringement as a criminal offense
contemplates the same punishment for both the violation of Section 57 and copyright
infringement. Considering this parity in the statute itself, the confusion between infringement
and plagiarism is understandable.9

Plagiarism may not always be committed intentionally, but there can be no excuse for stealing
another person’s ideas or research without acknowledging the author. With the increasing use
of internet, it becomes essential to be cautious before using ideas from the internet. It is not just
students who are misusing research work; there have been some instances were research
scholars were found misusing research of other scholars. Those who write to earn a living
should be extra vigilant not to make any such mistake. The record of Bharat Ratna C.N.R. Rao,
scientific adviser to India’s prime minister and one of the nation’s most celebrated scientists,
is marred by a cavalier approach to plagiarism and more than one instance of serious breach of
academic ethics. 10Another instance where seven Stanford University physicists, three of them
Nobel laureates, wrote a complaint against various instances of plagiarism by BS Rajput, a
physicist and then vice-chancellor of a University in Uttarakhand. Such news gets widely
reported in the academic world. For academic scholars, publishing is an integral part of their
career. Plagiarism will result in loss of reputation and may ruin the academic career of the
research scholar.

9
http://copyright.lawmatters.in/2011/09/101-copyright-infringement-and.htm
10
http://thewire.in/3307/in-india-you-can-plagiarize-and-flourish/

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 Similarities between Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism
On the surface, plagiarism and copyright both have a great deal in common. Most things that
can be plagiarized could be copyrighted. After all, most plagiarism deals with either creative
or academic work and those types of works, typically, qualify for copyright protection when
they are new.

More importantly though, many plagiarisms are copyright infringements. Plagiarizing a blog
post on a new site, copying an encyclopedia article without attribution for a book report or
submitting a photograph someone else took under your name to a magazine are all examples
of both plagiarism and copyright infringement.

As such, many plagiarisms are actually addressed through the legal framework provided by
copyright law. Plagiarized content posted online is often removed with takedown notices,
commercial plagiarisms, for example in advertisements, are often dealt with through lawsuits
and so forth.

However, not all plagiarisms are copyright infringements and not all copyright infringements
are plagiarisms. Though there’s a lot of overlap between them, there’s a lot of areas where they
diverge.

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 Conclusion
Though plagiarism and copyright infringement often overlap, it’s important to remember that
the two are not same and can never be really same. Plagiarism is an ethical construct and
copyright infringement is a legal one. Most important point to remember is while copyright
infringement has one victim, the copyright holder(s), plagiarism has two sets of victims, the
copyright holder(s) and the people who were unaware about the origin of the work.

There can be several ways and resources to prevent plagiarism, but the there is need to be all
time alert and feel it to be one's moral responsibility to avoid committing such acts. What is
also required is a sure shot formula of preventing such practices which not only harm the
author's own reputation but also affect the original author's work's credibility and value. One
of the points to be considered, however, is that plagiarism can , unlike any other crime, hardly
cause any real or physical harm. So then, should proper laws and manuscripts be prepared for
punishing this act? Should the penalties and punishments inflicted on the wrong- doers be so
harsh so as to spoil their future? Are the free services available online and other offers also not
to be blamed? As of now, the only answer to all these questions is 'Time'.

Awareness about copyright infringement and copyright laws is important in a developing

society, as creativity is an essence of growth. It is important to talk to a copyright lawyer at
every stage of dealing with copyrighted work. This includes assistance for filing a copyright
application, dealing with copyright infringement and defending the copyright.

While copyright infringement has one victim, the copyright holder(s), plagiarism has two sets
of victims, the copyright holder(s) and the people who were lied to about the origin of the work.

The other important way to look at is that plagiarism is an ethical construct and copyright
infringement is a legal one. Though they have a lot of overlap, they are not the same and can
never really be the same.

So while plagiarism may come up in copyright discussions and vice versa, it’s important to
know that the two are different in some very important ways.

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 Bibliography
 Sreenivasulu N.S, Law Relating to Intellectual Property, 2nd Edition, 2018, Universal
 Law Publishing.
 Iyengar’s, Commentary on the Copyright Act, 9th Edition, 2016, Revised by H K
 Saharay, Universal Law Publishing
 Ahuja, V.K., “Law Relating To Intellectual Property Rights”, Lexis Nexis Publications,
 Second Edition, 2013.Pg. no. 81.
 http://www.ebc-india.com/lawyer/articles/2003v8a3.ht
 Radhakrishnan, Dr. R., “Intellectual Property Right”, Excel Books India Ltd., First
 Edition, New Delhi, 2008. Pg. no. 155.
 P. Narayanan, Law of Copyright and Industrial Designs, Fourth Edition, 2017, Eastern
 Law House
 Copinger and Skone James on Copyright (Sweet & Maxwell), 13th ed, 1991.

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