Plagiarism as a win-win situation?

"In most of cases, companies see the plagiarism of commercials as a win-win situation," said Kim Se-won of the Advertising Review Board. "They like their commercials to be copied and replayed by other companies, because it reminds consumers of their products."

The controversy over the folder phone commercial has just followed a similar debate. Earlier this month, Internet users said LG plagiarized a music video clip of "Can't Stop" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a famous U.S. rock band, in another mobile phone commercial.

from Korea Times, 29 Sept 06

Meanwhile, back at Ohio University:

The Research Integrity Committee, which Angie Bukley chairs, is investigating 133 theses, including the 15 from the chemical engineering department. The committee eventually will develop a framework to examine some of the more than 1,800 theses written since 1980.

(...)

The definition of plagiarism isn’t clear, Pasic said, adding that he didn’t believe what his students did was plagiarism.“All of my students did original research work,” Pasic said. His students did not adequately cite the literature review section — negligence by both the student and himself, he said.

[from the Post online]