The Law of Plagiarism:

College and university rules for student conduct sometimes say that plagiarism is an academic offense, not a legal offense. That statement is not correct.

Colleges, universities and professional entities certainly have the authority to punish plagiarists in various ways, including expulsion from the college or revoking a degree earned in part by plagiarism. But plagiarism is also a legal issue.

Student Plagiarists

Napolitano

In January 1982, Gabrielle Napolitano, then in her senior year at Princeton University, plagiarized the majority of her 12-page term paper in a Spanish class from a book in the library. While she did cite the book in five footnotes, she did not include citations in the text for some paraphrased material and she did not include the indicia of quotations for numerous verbatim quotations. The professor was familiar with the book and immediately recognized the
plagiarism. The Princeton University Committee on Discipline, in February 1982, unanimously found Napolitano had plagiarized and recommended punishment of delaying her bachelor's degree for one year. Napolitano sued and the judge recommended that Princeton give her a rehearing. The Committee on Discipline gave her a rehearing in May 1982 and again unanimously found her guilty of plagiarism and – with one abstention among the eight votes – again recommended that her degree be withheld for one year. The trial court held that the evidence supported Princeton's finding that Napolitano had plagiarized, and the appellate court affirmed. Napolitano v. Princeton Univ., 453 A.2d 279 (N.J.Super.Ch.Div. 1982), aff'd 453 A.2d 263 (N.J.Super. 1982).

Plagiarism is a perennial temptation for students and an eternal challenge for teachers and writers, especially in the age of the Internet. An event during the summer of 2006, however, seemed almost a re-invention of plagiarism, at least to some who responded to it.

In June 2006 a message was emailed to fraternity and sorority chapters across the country advertising a new electronic repository for down-loadable college and university papers, as well as articles on various topics. The site was called "writing sucks" (link removed intentionally), and featured the slogan, Download your Workload. Members of the Alliance for Computers and Writing (ACW) list-serve list fumed and argued about plagiarism in general and Writing Sucks in particular.