Intellectual Property and Plagiarism

["Willi Peekhaus" <wpeekhaus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Good Morning,

As many of you are no doubt aware, the issues of academic integrity and
intellectual honesty are increasingly being challenged in our Web-based
world.  Incidents of plagiarism at universities across the continent are on
the rise, and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada is no exception.  I
attend this institution as a graduate student in the collaborative Masters
of Library and Information Studies and Masters of Public Administration.
The Senate here has voted to subscribe to Turnitin.com.  While I do
recognize the need to detect plagiarism, as a graduate student I am
concerned that any paper I may be requested to submit for evaluation becomes
the property of this company.  The university asserts that I retain
intellectual property rights over my own original work.  However, I am
curious how I, or any of my colleagues, can in fact retain IP rights if the
paper becomes the property of Turnitin.com.  Do I as the author merely
surrender physical property rights while retaining copyright over the work?
To confound the matter even more, Dalhousie is a Canadian university and
Turnitin.com an American company.  Which IP regime applies?

There are also concerns about privacy, although this issue may well be
beyond the scope of this list.

I am hoping for input with regard to the query of copyright versus property
rights, and indeed whether such a distinction even exists in this case.

I would also be curious about other people's experience with Turnitin.com or
similar services.  Many of us here at Dalhousie University, including
faculty, have little experience with this and would appreciate hearing from
others on the matter.  However, I do not want to tax the list with this
thread so if you wish to speak to this please feel free to contact me
directly at wpeekhaus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sincerely,

Willi Peekhaus
MLIS / MPA Candidate
Dalhousie University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
wpeekhaus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx