Reference And Plagiarism Q&A

Definitions

Referencing material from other sources is an act that is allowed and encouraged by the law, while plagiarism, by contrast, is illegal. This is because a reference merely borrows the underlying idea of the work of another person (since the "underlying idea" of a work is not protected by the Copyright Law and can be freely used), while plagiarism expropriates the expression of an idea (which is the core asset that the Copyright Law seeks to protect). In practice, however, in many works, especially literature, film and TV works, the boundary between an "idea" and the "expression" of the idea is so blurred that a creator can be falsely accused of plagiarism simply for referencing another person's work.