Without even knowing it, you may have been guilty of copyright violation. Cyworld, the most popular blog system used by young Koreans, is one place where copyright violation is unconsciously practiced every day by Ewha students. Soribada, where music files are freely downloaded, is another place where infringement of copyrights is carried out. Believe it or not, the classroom is also a place where vigorous copyright violation is put to life. Without a sense of guilt, students purchase illegally copied textbooks at bookbinderies. Let's take a closer look at what the bounds, punishment and solutions are for violation against textbook copyrights.
◆The Bounds: When more than ten percent of the material is copied from the original text without approval by the author, it is considered a violation of copyright.
◆Punishment: When more than ten percent of the material is copied from the original text, the bookbindery is accused of illegal copying. The bookbindery will be have to go on trial and pay a fine.
◆The Solutions: Schools can avoid copying the original text by advising professors to use excerpts from different sources. Also, important bits could be summarized in class lectures.
*Sources provided by Korea Reprographic and Transmission Rights
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American Universities: Avoiding Illegal Copying
Why is there less illegal textbook copying in American universities compared to those in Korea?
Unlike Korean universities, American universities consider plagiarism a serious crime and the students awareness level of copyright violations is higher than that of other countries. Here are some steps the professors and the university administration take to prevent illegal copying of textbooks.
1. Generally, professors ask students to purchase the original text either in books or in excerpts.
2. Students use the ?eserve system at school libraries, where students can share textbooks.
3. Students use the Internet electronic library system where class materials are scanned from the original text (this is not violating the bounds of copyrights) and posted in PDF files. Such cyber education systems are referred to as ?lack board courses and are actively used in American universities.
*Sources provided by Ohmynews