Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file). Plagiarism is to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own. Plagiarism is considered an act of fraud as it involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. To avoid plagiarism, CITE YOUR SOURCES.
From plagiarism.org
UCNJ takes violations of academic integrity seriously. Be sure to review your Student Handbook regarding academic integrity. The College's complete statement on Academic Integrity is contained in the Student Handbook.
The following is extracted from it:
There is the expectation that students will present as their own work only that which they have done themselves. The College does not tolerate academic dishonesty, including plagiarizing (the act of representing someone else’s ideas as your own) and cheating by any means during a test, an examination or in any work intended to be done independently.
The term “plagiarism” includes but is not limited to the following:
• Representing someone else’s ideas as your own without crediting your source.
• Submitting assignments that do not include proper acknowledgement of the original source. *Quoted material must be put in quotation marks and credited to the original source.
• Paraphrasing another’s work without proper attribution.
• Submitting deliberately misleading attributions or acknowledgments.
• Submitting a purchased term paper, or another person’s work as one’s own.
• Failing to properly document information obtained on the World Wide Web or other Internet sources. *If you have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarized.