Sasha is writing an essay about a fictional text that was written in 1904. The text is in the public domain, meaning that it is no longer protected by copyright.

Should Sasha take steps to avoid plagiarizing the text? Why or why not?

A.
Yes. It is never appropriate to use someone else's words as your own.
B.
Yes. There are financial penalties for plagiarizing texts that aren't copyrighted.
C.
No. The text is so old that no one will know whether Sasha is using her own words or someone else's words.
D.
No. It’s fine to copy the text word-for-word and pass it off as her own because the copyright is no longer protected.

A. Yes. It is never appropriate to use someone else's words as your own, regardless of whether or not the text is in the public domain. Plagiarism is a serious academic offense and can have consequences beyond financial penalties. Even if the text is no longer protected by copyright, it is still important to properly cite and give credit to the original author.