I don't care if the violation is theft or not, but I think it's interesting that there are some good arguments to explain why it is. The criminal offense, on the other hand, requires that the defendant deliberately infringe in order to be guilty, meaning that he not only intended to copy, but also intended to break the law by copying. Therefore, not only are all criminal offenses the same as criminal theft, since there is a specific intent to infringe, but every deliberate civil offense is also criminal theft, since there is also the same specific intent. A civil offense is an intentional tort such that the defendant must have intended to make the copy, but it is also a strict liability tort such that there is no need to prove an intent to infringe to establish the defendant's liability.
In the academic world, plagiarism is a serious matter and will have penalties ranging from deduction of points to expulsion from university. I think people often refer to infringement as theft in the colloquial sense of the word, but it is the legal meaning of the term that I will focus on. This is true not only because property for purposes of theft statutes is broadly defined to include intangibles, but also because intentional infringement involves the illegal taking or control of another person's personal property with the intention of depriving the victim of his or her property. Plagiarism, while not against the law, is an ethical construct most commonly imposed by academic intuitions.
To bring an action for any violation of that particular right committed while he or she is the owner of the right. However, it is less clear that the taking that occurs when an offender arrogates the use of other protected work comfortably fits the terms associated with the physical removal employed by § 2314. Section 504 (c) (provides for greater compensation for damages when the civil offense is done deliberately, that is, when the defendant has the intention to infringe. Plagiarism, on the other hand, is when someone passed off someone else's work as their own or without recognition from the original source. An innocent offender is just as responsible as a willful offender, but the latter faces the possibility of being trapped for more damage than the former.
The consequences of academic plagiarism can range from receiving a failing grade to revoking a degree. Plagiarism refers to the act of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as your own.
