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Since 1987 in the US, Plagiarism has indeed become illegal and an infringement of copyright law under US copyright laws. Under 17 USC §§ 101, 102(a), and 302(a) a copyright exists any time two conditions occur: (Standler, 2009) 1. The work is an original work, and 2. The Creation is in a material form. Furthermore copyright does not depend upon formal registration of the work with the US Copyright Office IAW 17 USC §§ 401(a), 407(a), 408(a). Therefore the document submitted by the senior engineer is in violation of US Copyright law. Furthermore, the 1998 amendment, 17 USC §1202, to US Copyright law made the removal of any of these illegal: (Standler, 2009) 1. The copyright notice, if present. 2. The title of the document. 3. Any identifying information about the author, including name. 4. Any identifying information about the copyright holder, including name. 5. Any conditional statements about the usage of the work. Standler, R. B., (2009, December 21). Some Observations on Copyright Law. Retrieved from http://www.rbs2.com/copyr.htm