Many of us have been warned against committing plagiarism. However, stealing someone’s intellectual property is more than just copy-and-pasting information that you later claim as your own. The extent of intellectual property protected by law is probably greater than you ever imagined. To help prevent your property from being stolen or to keep yourself from accidentally using someone else’s protected information, here are a few things you should know.

First, let’s look at the development of the laws regarding this type of property. In 1967, the member states of the United Nations created the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO, that promotes the balance of rewards for creativity with the rights of the public to particular sources of information. The benefit of having an international organization to protect and promote intellectual property, or IP, is that all of the UN member states can extend these rights to their populace, and they will be respected by people from other UN member states.

» Read more: Fighting Back Against Intellectual Property Theft

Just three miles from the headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. is the heart of Georgetown, home to many of the capital city’s toniest boutiques. On the streets of Georgetown, you see the latest fashions from Kate Spade® handbags and Rolex® watches, to Washington Redskins® caps and Hermès® scarves, to new Nike® Jordan LX2(TM) NBA® sneakers with Velcro® straps. In fact, you could Rollerblade® right up to the display racks as many of the hottest styles are sold right on the sidewalk at prices that can’t be beat. A Rolex® Oyster Perpetual(TM) Sea-Dweller 4000(TM) will set you back about thirty-five dollars. Inexplicably, a Hermès® scarf goes for about the same. And in case you’re blinded by these bargains, for less than the price of an entrée at Café Milano you can pick up a pair of Ray-Ban® Undercurrent 4006(TM) sunglasses. Just don’t use Windex® or a Kleenex® to clean the lenses as it will wreck the cheap coating. It’s probably also a good idea to refrain from smoking and avoid open flames while wearing that “hand-rolled silk twill” scarf. And don’t rely on that “Rolex” to be on time for that big job interview.

Counterfeits may seem to offer a cheap entrée into a higher standard of living, yet with every purchase of a knock-off handbag, the relative value of the real deal goes down. Patents and trademarks, so called intellectual property, are the lifeblood of most companies. Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and the non-eponymous designers, movie producers, athletes and recording artists deserve to be justly compensated for their creativity, intelligence, and hard work.

» Read more: The High Price of Cheap Knock-offs

I have always wondered where our academic curriculums; law, politics, international relations, business administration, philosophy, biology, health, aviation or building come from, but now, I have found the answer to the above wonder. These academic curriculums come from our “repeated surroundings” and these repeated surroundings are referred to as the sources of any knowledge. What are repeated surroundings?

Repeated surroundings are any social phenomenon; good or bad, which have happened many times. Sources of education are instigated they touch the hearts of those caring about human lives and societies; consequently, they (those caring about human lives and societies) decide to be deeply aware of the issue and spread those issues to the public. To make them (those care about human lives and societies) deeply understand the issues and to syndicate to the public, collecting, codifying or other storing mechanisms are needed: from here come all any source of knowledge.

» Read more: The Sources of Any Knowledge