contract-law canada state-university
Plagiarism on an Affidavit?
<p>Is there such thing as plagiarism on an Affidavit? In other words if my reasoning for a certain issue is best worded by an online source, can I simply copy the source and slightly customize it to my circumstance? Would this be a problem simply because it's not completely original?</p>
<p>To be clear, my reasoning is the same; it's simply that I don't see a need to rewrite the work.</p>
<p>In case the info is relevant, it's reasoning for an exemption at my place of work. It's a large company planning to mandate vaccines with the exception of certain cases (like mine).</p>

<blockquote>
<p>can I simply copy the source and slightly customize it to my circumstance?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes. Many people have the misconception that originality in and of itself triggers copyright protections. In reality, originality is only a <em>requirement</em> for copyright protection, a protection that is intended only for a roughly defined range of purposes.</p>
<p><a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/page-3.html#docCont" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Section 5</a> of the Canada Copyright Act protects &quot;<em>every original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work [meeting at least one of a list of conditions]</em>&quot;, this phrase referring to &quot;<em>every original production in the literary, scientific or artistic domain</em>&quot; (see <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-42/page-1.html#h-102546" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 2</a>). The purpose of affidavits is not literary, scientific, dramatic, or artistic.</p>
<p>Similarly, under U.S. law the primary purpose of copyright law is &quot;<em>To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, [...] to stimulate artistic creativity for the general public good</em>&quot;, <a href="https://www.leagle.com/decision/19941027510us51711001" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc.</em>, 510 U.S. 517, 526 (1994)</a> (citations omitted). The production of affidavits are not for the sake of artistic creativity, and usually not for the public good.</p>
<p>More generally, homogeneity in the drafting of legal documents (including affidavits) tends to streamline the administration of &quot;justice&quot;. It helps the court to focus on the central issue instead of having to delve in what subtleties could arise from the particularities of how each variation is worded.</p>
