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How To Know If You Are Plagiarizing or Violating Copyright

According to a 2020 report by the USSC, 75.7% of copyright and trademark offenders were sentenced to prison. Meanwhile, although cases of plagiarism are not likely to result in imprisonment, these lead to tarnished reputation and even expulsion from school. But even with these grave consequences, many still commit acts of plagiarism and copyright infringement. Most of these people are clueless that they are committing such violations.

Because it’s difficult to distinguish these acts, you yourself may be unknowingly committing them too. So just how would you know if you’re plagiarizing or violating copyright laws? Let’s go over what these acts are and how to know if you’re infringing on other people’s rights.

Plagiarism Vs. Copyright Infringement

Both plagiarism and copyright infringement involve the unauthorized use of another person’s original work. But there are distinct differences. The most obvious one is that committing copyright infringement has legal repercussions, while plagiarism is considered a minor misdemeanor.

Plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the act of claiming another person’s work or ideas as your own. This happens when you use an idea or part of any work, and you don’t give credit or citation to the rightful owner. Although not illegal, plagiarism can tarnish your image. In the academe, it can lead to failing marks, expulsion from the institution, or revocation of your degree. When done at work, it may result in termination and inability to progress in your career.

Copyright Infringement?

Like plagiarism, copyright infringement involves using the original work or idea of another person. What distinguishes it from plagiarism is that it violates the rights of the owner or creator of the original work. Literary works, songs, movies, graphic arts, and other such materials are often under copyright. Except for fair use and other exceptions, no person is allowed to use them without getting authorization from the original creator.

Copyright infringement is illegal and will incur legal consequences. You may be asked to pay steep fines, served injunctions, or even faced with imprisonment.

How to Know If You Are Plagiarizing or Violating Copyright?

Here are some scenarios to help you distinguish whether you‘re plagiarizing or violating copyright.

Plagiarism 

If you submit a written work with a few copied sentences

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NFTs and the Future of IP Licensing

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are taking the digital art marketplace by storm, with artists cashing in millions. Mike Winkelmann, a.k.a. Beeple, has been at the forefront of this trend. If you haven’t heard, an image he created was auctioned at Christie’s for $69 million, outselling the likes of Monet, Lucian Freud, and Damien Hirst.

Needless to say, there’s much hype around NFTs and digital art. Due to their unique structure, it opens up several questions about intellectual property (IP) rights, regulation, and more.

Chase Lawyers is a boutique entertainment law firm, specializing in all legal matters related to art, entertainment, and IP licensing. From IP governance and asset protection to the implementation of smart contracts, our lawyers are prepared to answer all your questions about non-fungible tokens.

What Are NFTs?

Short for non-fungible tokens, NFTs are unique digital tokens stored on Ethereum’s blockchain. They can be used to verify the authenticity and represent ownership of any form of art, such as drawings, music, furniture, and legal documents. Even memes, recipes, and startups are being sold at NFT marketplaces.

No matter what the assets are, NFTs can’t be exchanged for other items because of their unique properties.

The hype around NFTs is mostly around digital art. Someone, for instance, paid about $6.6 million for a 10-second clip by Beeple. Although anyone can download that same digital file for free, the buyer has ownership of that work of art.

Just think of physical art collections. Anyone can get their hands on Monet reproductions, but only one person can own an original. NFTs have extended that concept to digital assets.

An NFT can only have a single owner. Smart contracts manage the ownership and transferability of NFTs using unique ID and metadata, which other tokens can’t replicate. When you create an NFT, you carry out a code in a smart contract that adheres to different standards like the ERC-721. Every token that is minted comes with a unique identifier, which is connected to an Ethereum address. 

What Rights Does an NFT Give You?

Creating NFTs comes with a lot of advantages. For starters, it makes it so much easier for you to prove that you are the creator of a particular work of art. As a creator, you get to determine its scarcity. You aren’t

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Streaming Gambling, Who Is in The Wrong?

In the past few years, we’ve seen steady growth in the online gambling market. Many operators of casinos, bingo, poker, and other gambling sites have migrated their offline activities to online platforms. Even with just a handful of U.S. States having regulations for online gambling, the market is still projected to have a CAGR of 17.32% in the next five years.

One of the ways these gambling sites are widening their reach is by sponsoring popular streamers. However, streaming gambling has been an issue of contention in the online community.

What Are Gambling Streams?

Gambling streams, or gamba streams, are sponsored activities involving up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per stream. Companies provide streamers with funds, usually in cryptocurrency, to spend on games while streaming their experience online. They also provide referral codes with attractive perks that streamers can share with their viewers.

Gamba streamers often spend hours playing on these gambling sites. They win or lose thousands of dollars at a time while spinning slots and engaging in other casino games. These high-stakes broadcasts are viewed by thousands of viewers.

A Flow of Controversies

Gambling streams are not entirely new. In the past year, it’s become a popular pastime of streamers, especially on Twitch. However, its increase in popularity has also brought it much attention, making it a controversial topic in the online community.

Unethical and morally fraught

Gamba streamers have received criticism for receiving money while promoting gambling and reckless behavior. While gamba streamers claim that they are not using their own money, the fact remains that their actions may trigger viewers to gamble using their hard-earned money, potentially leading to gambling addictions. Doing something that spurs such negative behaviors and getting money in exchange for it is seen as unethical and morally fraught.

A negative influence on viewers

There is now heightened concern about how gamba streams impact their viewers, particularly the impressionable younger audience. While Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and other platforms with streaming features prohibit children below 13 years old from setting their own accounts, younger kids are still able to use them and view streams. Viewing popular streamers engaging in online gambling may influence vulnerable viewers who won’t consider the repercussions.

Deceptive and undermines the law

Although streaming gambling in itself isn’t illegal, the underlying activity