Plagiarism

What is It?
 ON THE Middle and HIGH
SCHOOL LEVEL…

• What does plagiarism mean?

• What’s wrong with it?
• Why should anyone care?
• Whose responsibility is it?

Some questions & ideas from www.gunnarswanson.com

PLAGIARISM means using
someone else’s work without
their permission, and taking
credit for it.
This includes drawing or painting
from photographs that someone
else has created.
 Let’s think about it….

At the middle and high school level

we often use pictures from books and
magazines and other sources for
inspiration.
In an educational setting, this is
acceptable as long as it is used as a
teaching tool, and not claimed as an
original.
This high school
work was
selected by
judges for the
ALL STATE
HIGH
SCHOOL ART
Exhibition
Florida State
Fair 2005
Here is a
Full-page
Advertisement
(photograph)
in COSMO
GIRL
Magazine,
2005
 WHY SHOULD ANYONE
CARE?
• Is it wrong?
• Is it theft? Is it fraud?
• Is it an insult to creative autonomy
and the creative spirit?
• Is it a degradation of the design
profession?
• What harm does it do?
To copy a piece of artwork allows you to
discover the working methods of the original
artist. You learn such things as how to blend
colors and use the brush for certain effects…
BUT…
To pass the work off as your own is theft.
It should be put away, and never exhibited or
entered into a competition, or sold.
The TOKYOPOP
website invites
amateur manga
artists to post their
latest works.
The following
message was posted
on the page with this
image …..

Sunday, September 24,

2006 by Shyru
 I'm sorry, but could you please remove this?You are
only allowed to upload content that you own the rights
to (IE created) or have received permission to post
(With citation). Posting work that you found online,
scanned from another source, or generally didn't
completely draw is against the Terms of Service.
`

This image has been flagged. Reason -

Copyright Infringement
You may not upload any
content that you did not create without permission
and citation. This includes Photoshopped and
Edited images that use work that is not your own.
Please only upload your own work, thank
you.

"TOKYOPOP does not permit copyright

infringing activities and infringement of intellectual
property rights on its Website. TOKYOPOP reserves the
right to remove Content and User Submissions. TOKYOPOP
may also terminate a User's access."
Selected 3rd Place
in the Regional
U.S. Congressional
Competition
2006
Image in a catalog

Colorado
Institute of Art
Airbrush
Illustration by
Gregory
Osborne, Visual
Arts Communications
major
Is this a plagiarized idea?

(The student claimed he had never seen the

image on the right, and except for the “water”, he
had photographed the other images.)
Last year, a student submitted the following
digital photographs for a grade in his
photography class. The Instructor was
suspicious……
Another student quietly alerted the
Instructor to check Microsoft’s
Screen Savers where he found the
images.
 RULE OF THUMB:
If you copy a camel (photograph)
from National Geographic it must
be changed and manipulated in
such fashion that it conveys a
personal vision that is unique.

From www.painterskeys.com
If you copy a camel from a photo
you took yourself or legitimately
own, then you can do anything you
want with it.
If you use a photo as a resource it
must be substantially changed in
the service of a personal voice.
 Definitions:
• Forgery = a work with intent to
deceive
• Copy = a reproduction of another
work without intent to deceive.
• Clone = an imitation of someone else’s
style
If you clone or appropriate technique
or even subject matter, you might
consider writing an acknowledgement
on the back.
 The Question of COLLAGE
In collage, found elements are reused
in their original form, but with new
context.
This practice escapes the claim of
fraud in that the source is evident.
A collage a collection of borrowed elements
that are used in the service of a personal
vision.
www.gunnarswanson .com
How do we help students avoid this?
If you are in doubt about
whether something is
“legal,” it is often the best
decision NOT to use the
work.
 When a Plagiarized Piece
Wins a Competition

• Is it the judges’ fault?

• Is it the students’ fault?
• Is it the teachers’ fault?
• What harm does it do?
Art Teachers have an
awesome responsibility.
In our business of image-making, we must also
teach honesty, integrity, and respect for other
artists’ property.

There is no room for plagiarism in art.

 Plagiarism
is our issue!

Powerpoint created by Patricia Lamb, Florida