Copyright Basics

Copyright law is designed and enacted to protect artists and other creators. Just as an inventor deserves to patent an invention, an artist deserves the right to own created material including but not limited to film, photography, music, and writing. Although copyright law in many cases ignores the rights of consumers to do as they please with materials they legally purchased, American federal and state statutes do the best they can to create a fair and balanced marketplace. Upon reviewing the United States Copyright statutes, the U.S. Copyright Office's "Copyright Basics" document, the American University Copyright School compendium of resources on copyright, and the American University copyright quiz, I have determined that I need to learn a little more about what is and is not legal behavior.

The answers to the quiz that I got right include basic issues related to plagiarism of academic sources. I must cite...
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