Plagiarism can be defined as, using the work of someone else without giving proper credits to the originator. Its scope is not limited to research publications only; it may incorporate music, arts, paintings, books, videos, pictures and computer programs. If you use ideas of someone else as your own, it may be regarded as a serious offense. However, if you like the idea, give a proper reference to it and include proper credentials. Inspiring the work of others and sharing it with the rest of the world is a good thing, but only if we acknowledge that, and deliver it through right means; otherwise, it comes under the category of plagiarism.
On a smaller scale, like a student copying projects of other students without their permission, would come under the category of plagiarism as well; however, in this case, the penalty would be less; may be a low grade. But at a broader level like in business, plagiarism is treated as highly unethical and a person may be imposed to the prison as it is considered as committing a crime in some parts of the world.
The concept of plagiarism would be clearer with the help of an example. Let us suppose, for example, that we are doing a research paper on brand preferences of the consumers, and we take some statistics from an existing research paper, without mentioning the source; it would be considered as plagiarism. On the other hand, if we include the same information by following the proper style of bibliography, it would become a part of literature review and would make the research more reliable and authenticated. However, if we gather firsthand information on consumer preferences, either through questionnaires, survey or interview, it would be our own property, and we are authorized to get a copyright on that. Any other person, who wishes to use that information, will then have to take special permission from the author and cite the references according to the given format.
For protection of innovative work and minimize the practice of plagiarism, copyrights, trademarks and patents have been introduced. In a copyright, the owner is given exclusive rights for the reproduction of work or a form of expression, which may be published or unpublished, while a patent is treated like property of a person. It is usually awarded for some kind of invention and has limited life span. After a particular time frame, it may expire. Trademarks are usually used for a name, device, word or symbol, which distinguishes a particular product from others.
These are some means to protect the intellectual property. It has many negative consequences as well. Foremost is that the original work is not appreciated; a person may receive credit for something which was not his/her idea. It may lead to hamper the creativity and innovation. People may feel de-motivated. At different levels of society, steps are taken to reduce plagiarism; however, it cannot be completely eliminated from the society, unless we remove it from grass root and try to minimize its negative consequences.