Plagiarism under federal or state law

Under federal or state law, you won't face criminal charges for copying a friend's assignment during exam season, but you will likely face disciplinary action in school (Coble, 2019). However, you might encounter issues when dealing with copyright infringement. While there is no law that specifically addresses plagiarism, it could lead to serious consequences if it involves copyright infringement.

Plagiarism and Law illustration

According to Moriarty and the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) (n.d.), plagiarism in the United States is not directly recognized as a criminal offense, and there is no specific civil suit for plagiarism under U.S. law.

Generally, plagiarism is not a crime, or “illegal,” in the United States. Further, there is no direct tort (civil suit brought by a non-governmental person) recognized in U.S. law for plagiarism. Any possible legal (or pseudo-legal) action related to plagiarism would be done by the means discussed below (Moriarty & International Center for Academic Integrity [ICAI], n.d.).

In my opinion, you will not face criminal charges for "plagiarism," but you may face serious problems for "copyright violation"

"Depending on many factors, the copyright holder can bring a civil action against the tortfeasor (here, the plagiarist) for damages (Moriarty & International Center for Academic Integrity [ICAI], n.d.)"

Besides that, it could facing problems under fraud statutes, breach of contract, labor law, contract cheating, or defamation.

"U.S. law generally does not make academic plagiarism a crime, so any legal issues would be in relation to labor law, contracts, or defamation," Moriarty and the International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI) (n.d.)

References

Coble, E. (2019, March 21). Is plagiarism a crime? https://www.findlaw.com/. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/criminal-defense/is-plagiarism-a-crime/

Moriarty, C. & International Center for Academic Integrity (ICAI). (n.d.). Note on United States Law, Policy, and Norms in Plagiarism in Brief. https://en.naqa.gov.ua/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Note-on-United-States-Law-Sep-10-2020-Moriarty.pdf

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