Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Law

Plagiarism Pedagogy: Why Teaching Plagiarism Should Be A Fundamental Part Of Legal Education, Brian L. Frye, Megan E. Boyd Jan 2021

Plagiarism Pedagogy: Why Teaching Plagiarism Should Be A Fundamental Part Of Legal Education, Brian L. Frye, Megan E. Boyd

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

As a practicing lawyer, if you aren’t plagiarizing, you’re committing malpractice. Litigators copy forms and arguments from winning briefs rather than bill their clients for reinventing the wheel. Transactional lawyers copy enforceable agreements to ensure their agreements are enforceable too. Partners routinely present documents prepared by associates (and sometimes even paralegals) as their own work. And judges are the most prolific plagiarists of all, copying briefs, opinions, treatises, and legal and nonlegal scholarship, adopting arguments from lawyers and holdings from other judges as their own and claiming authorship of opinions written primarily by their clerks or the parties to the …


Plagiarize This Paper, Brian L. Frye Jan 2020

Plagiarize This Paper, Brian L. Frye

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

It is meet and just that I write this essay while toiling in the salt mines of academia. We academics devote our works and days to scouring those mines for ideas in the rough. Some of us discover a rich vein, but others must comb through the tailings. Whatever we find, we cut and polish until it glistens and shines. Of course, some ideas prove to be diamonds while others remain mere pebbles. But then a diamond is just a pebble that many people admire, and one person’s diamond is another’s pebble. Regardless, academics strive to find the scholarly diamond …


Plagiarism Is Not A Crime, Brian L. Frye Jan 2016

Plagiarism Is Not A Crime, Brian L. Frye

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Copyright infringement and plagiarism are related but distinct concepts. Copyright prohibits certain uses of original works of authorship without permission. Plagiarism norms prohibit copying certain expressions, facts, and ideas without attribution. The prevailing theory of copyright is the economic theory, which holds that copyright is justified because it is economically efficient. This article considers whether academic plagiarism norms are economically efficient. It concludes that academic plagiarism norms prohibiting non-copyright infringing plagiarism are not efficient and should be ignored.


Something Bad In Your Briefs, Richard H. Underwood Oct 2013

Something Bad In Your Briefs, Richard H. Underwood

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In a profession heavily driven by writing, plagiarism is an ethical issue that plagues the legal community. The legal profession generally views plagiarism as unethical, but often sends mixed messages by condemning it in some settings, but not others. In this short Commentary, Professor Underwood discusses the ethical implications of plagiarism in legal writing.