2. Preparation of generic, chemical and commercial (brand)
names;
Copyrights;
Plagiarism – as copyrights infringement;
Public property;
Patents.
3. LEGAL MATTERS
Scientists must use each other’s ideas and inventions if progress is to
be made. However, using something that belongs to someone else
brings us into the realm of legal, as well as ethical, issues. The rule is
simple – if a work is not yours, find out whose it is and get permission
before you use it. The application of the rule is somewhat more
complex.
Below are some handy things to know. When you have really
important questions about such things as trade names, copyrights,
and patents, consult a lawyer.
4. Trade Names
A manufactured item such as a pharmaceutical product
sometimes has as many as three different types of names. One is
its systemic chemical name, which is often complex. Another is a
shorter, nonproprietary “generic” name. A third is a trade name,
also called a proprietary name. This is the name a manufacturer or
vendor gives to its product; usually such names are registered as
trademarks. If one manufacturer’s product behaves significantly
differently from other similar products, readers may need to know
which one you used in order to duplicate your experimental
results.
In such a case, the trade name should be given somewhere (often
in parentheses or in a reference or footnote rather than directly in
the text). Otherwise, scientific writing generally avoids trade
names.
5. Trade Names
In particular, brand or trademark names should never be
used in titles or summaries. One reason is that their use
makes it appear as though one is advertising products.
Another is that, while generic and systemic names generally
stay the same, trade names often differ greatly from one
part of the world to another. Furthermore, official trade
names can be awkward to use, because many consist of a
long string of words, some of which may appear in all capital
letters.
6. Distinguish carefully between trade names and
common names
The problem is that when a trade marked product comes into general
use, the public often loses touch with the word’s commercial origins.
Proper names or their derivatives begin to function as common nouns,
and for a period of time both styles exist side by side.
7. Substitute generic or chemical names whenever
possible
The use of generic or chemical names for products is usually preferred in
the text and obligatory in titles and summaries. Generic drug names can
be verified in the most recent edition of the USP Dictionary of USAN and
International Drug Names. This useful annual guide is considered the
standard source for U.S. adopted names (USAN). It includes formal
chemical names of drugs, trade names, previously used generic names,
and code (ATC code – Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) numbers for
investigational drugs, as well as an appendix that details the rules for
coining new names.
8. Copyright
Copyright is the right of exclusive ownership by an author of the benefits
resulting from the creation of his or her work. It covers the matter and
form of a literary or artistic work, i.e., how it is expressed. It does not
cover the ideas or data themselves, but just the way in which they have
been presented. Copyright gives authors (or others to whom they
transfer copyright ownership) control over how the work is reproduced
and disseminated. Once copyrighted, a work cannot be indiscriminately
reproduced unless the copyright owner gives permission, usually in
exchange for royalties or other compensation. The issue of copyright
affects both your use of others’ work and your own published writing.
9. Permissions
In the process of preparing a written paper or an oral presentation, you
may find places where you want to use someone else’s material. It may
be a published photograph, some clipart, or a diagram downloaded off
the Web. Can you legally use the material? Later you’ll be preparing a
classroom term paper. Can you include the material then? What about
when you expand the term paper into a journal publication? In fact,
much of this material is probably copyrighted. In many cases you can
use it; in other cases, you can’t. A legal concept called “fair use” is
involved.
10. Public domain
This is the most straightforward of the fair use conditions. After the
original copyright holders have died and their heirs have exercised their
rights for 75 years, anyone can reproduce, record, perform, or
otherwise use the material without the permission of the heirs or
estate.
Public domain can also be declared right from the start. Items such as
clip art collections or certain software programs clearly announce that
they are in the public domain.
11. Patents
Patents do not apply to the expression of ideas, but protect the ideas as
they are put into practice as machines, manufacture, processes, or
composition.
In general, to be patentable, an invention must be proven to be novel,
not obvious, and useful. These criteria all must be supported in written
documentation, requiring you to carefully search and read the literature
on your subject. You must also keep careful records, preferably dated
and signed by witnesses, to be able to prove that you invented it first.
12. Plagiarism – as copyrights infringement
It is important to understand the differences and similarities between
plagiarism and copyright infringement. This is because, even though the
two have a great deal of overlap, they also have key differences that
content creators need to be aware of.
13. Defining Copyright Infringement
Copyright infringement is simply any infringement up on the rights of a
copyright holder.
Copyright law gives a copyright holder (usually the creator of the
work) a set of rights that they and they alone can exploit legally (save
for exceptions such as fair use). Those rights include:
The right to reproduce (copy) a work.
The right to create derivative works based upon it.
The right to distribute copies of the work to the public.
The right to publicly display or perform the work.
This means a wide variety of activities can be copyright infringing
including performing a copyrighted play without permission, writing an
unauthorized sequel to a work or simply making copies of the work.
14. plagiarism is defined as the taking the original work or works of another
auther and presenting it as your own.
The definition of “work” can include a variety of things including ideas,
words, images, etc. Anything that is seen as an unethical and
unattributed use of another’s original creation can be defined as
plagiarism.
However, the definition of plagiarism is not always consistent. Different
industries, for example, have different standards. A lawyer, for example,
is held to different standards than a poet, which is different than a
speechwriter and different from a musician.
Because of this, as with copyright infringement, many cases of
plagiarism are divisive as to whether or not a violation was committed.
15. 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.
The Similarities
16. The Differences
In general, it’s possible to infringe a work without plagiarizing it and it’s
equally possible to plagiarize something without committing copyright
infringement.
Plagiarism often covers things that are not covered by copyright. Ideas,
facts and general plot elements are all things that can be plagiarized, at
least in certain situations, but generally don’t qualify for copyright
protection.
17. Bottom Line
Though plagiarism and copyright infringement are often spoken of in
the same breath, especially by victims of plagiarism who are seeking
justice, it’s important to remember that the two are not the same thing.
Another way to think of it is this. 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.
