Copyright and the Internet

The Internet has created massive opportunities for the infringement of copyright. The Internet provides text and illustrations in electronic format, making it easy for the unscrupulous user to cut and paste material into their own documents. Trying to pass someone else's work of as you own is known as plagiarism.
The same rules generally apply to materials published on the Internet as to those published on other media. Almost everything on the Internet is copyright, so when you download material you should ensure that you are not breaking copyright law.
The greatest areas of commercial concern have been copyright infringements involving music files and still and moving images, particularly movies and TV programmes. A digital file can be cheaply and easily copied and distributed anywhere in the World via the Internet. The creator of the original work is excluded from the process and thus receives no financial reward.