What is the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement? Many people mistakenly use these terms interchangeably, but they refer to different issues. Plagiarism comes from a Latin word meaning “kidnapping” and refers to presenting someone else’s work, ideas, or words as your own without proper acknowledgment. Copyright infringement, on the other hand, occurs when a person uses, reproduces, or distributes a work protected by copyright without the owner’s permission. The difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement is that plagiarism is an ethical violation, while copyright infringement is a legal one.

• Copyright infringement is selling another’s work or commercially exploiting it without the proper rights to do so. Copyright infringement for example, will occur when a university copies parts of the whole book and then selling it to students. Theft thus takes place.
• Plagiarism is when the original work is manipulated and credit is not given where due or it can be done with the specific purpose of deceiving the reader to think that the ideas are your own.

There are not that many original ideas and writers normally build upon the works of others, but if a work is for instance, translated from one language to another and then sold as original it is pure plagiarism. The penalties in both cases are extreme.

What is eligible for Copyright Protection

Through the years, certain classes of copyright have been developed, rather artificially, to describe works eligible for copyright protection. In general, any original work made by a qualified person is eligible for copyright protection. Originality refers to the fact that the author must have created the work through the application of the author’s own creativity and labour. The author must have written down or recorded the creation in a material form for copyright to come into existence:

Literary Works – such as novels, poems, textbooks, letters, reports, lectures, and speeches.

Musical Works – original compositions, including melodies and harmonies, whether written or recorded.

Programme-Carrying Signals – programme signals transmitted through a satellite.

Published Editions of Books – typically the first printed edition of a literary or musical work.

Computer Programs – sets of instructions that control or direct the operations of a computer.

Artistic Works – including paintings, sculptures, drawings, and photographs.

Cinematograph Films / Videos – works consisting of a series of visual images capable of being shown as moving pictures.

Sound Recordings – recordings of sounds, whether of performances, speech, or other audio.

Broadcasts – electromagnetic transmissions intended for public reception.

Copyright in South Africa, like in most other countries, differs from other forms of intellectual property in that it is not a right that needs to be registered (except in the USA). Unlike patents, trade marks or registered designs, copyright vests in the author of a work once the work is created in a material form.