Compare and Contrast:

Hungary: more lenient, more used to copying, no honor courts

US: fairly strict, copying is unethical, honor courts exist

Both use the same copyright laws, so copying "look and feel" is not illegal, while copying whole passages of text without citation is.

As a novel concept, this section is broken down and analyzed in detail per major player in each scenario.

"Look and Feel" Scenario:

Major players: Copyer, copyee, university, honor court, court system.

Copyer: In Hungary, the copyer would probably be more used to copying. He/she would also be more used to getting away with copying and not having someone object to being copied from. From an American point of view, what the copyer did was grossly unethical, which contrasts with a slightly more accepting (or at least uncaring) view from the Hungarian norm.

Copyee: In Hungary, the copyee would probably be more used to having stuff copied, or at least "borrowed", as it is more common there than here. He may not feel as offended and would probably not raise such strong objections to be copied from.

University: Hungarian universities look down on such behavior, just like American universities do. Also, were the issue raised in a Hungarian university, the university is likely to do exactly what an American university would do - nothing.

Honor court: According to Anna Nemeth, an international student from Hungary, honor courts don't exist per se in Hungary. Individual professors usually deal with the issue of cheating on a case-by-case basis. The standards used are, however, very similar to those used in the US.

Court system: This issue probably wouldn't make it into the court system in Hungary, since Hungary basically uses the same IP/copyright laws as the US does and so does not offer copyright protection to "look and feel".

Author/Historian Plagiarism Scenario:

Major players: Doris Goodwin, other authors, publishing companies, court system.

In Hungary, just as in the US, copying content from sources and leaving it uncited is illegal. This case is fairly cut and dried, even overseas. Since Hungary agreed to the World Intellectual Property Organization's Copyright Treaty (which states that the copying of text is illegal) and the US was one of the major backers of the Treaty, it is unsurprising that the laws would be very similar.

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