PSCC Libraries: Programming &amp; Plagiarism: What is Intellectual Property?

What is Intellectual Property?

The phrase "intellectual property" describes any work that is distinct, owned, and protected by patent, trade secret, or copyright laws.

Examples of protected work:

An invention or technique that you patent (i.e.: the ARM processor in most mobile devices, designed to run fewer instructions and take up less memory).
Proprietary technology protected by trade secret laws so that an employee cannot reverse-engineer software or sell information to a competitor.
An API package protected by copyright, so that no one may use, modify, or redistribute the API without permission. (i.e.: Google copied Oracle’s JAVA API for android).

Copyright is intended for creative work, and does not protect facts, ideas, or common knowledge, such as mathematical calculations or widely-used instructions.

What Do You Have Permission to Use?

You may use material that is explicitly stated as:

Open Source: made publicly available for use and modification so that it can be adapted for alternative needs or debugged by the open community (this is called "crowdsourcing")
Creative Commons: with a Creative Commons License, authors make their work available for public use under specific conditions (i.e.: commercial or non-commercial use, no derivatives, or share-alike licensing).

But do not assume that any material is fair game just because it is on the internet! Look for and obey the creator's terms of use, and always give credit for someone else's work.

For More Information

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Executive Summary)
Addresses the circumvention of copyright protection systems, fair use in a digital environment, and online service provider (OSP) liability (including details on safe harbors, damages, and "notice and takedown" practices).
US Copyright Cases: Computer Programs
A searchable database of US Copyright cases, jurisdiction, categories, and outcomes.
Copyright Registration for Computer Programs
Application instructions from the US Copyright Office
Creative Commons
Provides free, easy-to-use copyright licenses to make a simple and standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work–on conditions of your choice.