LML4801
Assignment 1 Semester 1 2025
Unique number:
LML4801
Due Date: 3 April 2025
Assignment 1 Semester 1 2025
Detailed Solutions, References & Explanations
Unique number:
Due Date: 3 April 2025
pg. 1 file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/LML4801
, LML4801 Assignment 1 Semester 1 2025 - DUE 3 April 2025
Scenario M is a tech-savvy fourth year law student at a residential South African
university. She created a computer program (Artificial Intelligence (AI)) called
CheatSheet ostensibly to help students with their assignments, which she charges
a once-off subscription fee to use. CheatSheet is trained on the following
documents, without M having obtained any permission for such use: electronic
licensed copies of textbooks that M accessed through the university library’s
website; published versions of court judgments from a law publisher’s database,
including the editors’ summaries at the beginning of each case; study notes
begged, borrowed, and bought from classmates; and lecturers’ notes uploaded
onto their universities’ module sites. M is confident that, because CheatSheet is
for educational use, she cannot be liable for copyright infringement. She also
acknowledges all the authors of material that CheatSheet is trained on as her
“Database co-authors”. Further, M has become aware that Z had copied
CheatSheet and is making it available free of charge, which interferes with the
income M is getting from CheatSheet. 1. Can M prevent Z’s actions in relation to
CheatSheet?
3 DIFFERENT ANSWERS PROVIDED
The Copyright Act 98 of 1978 provides that copyright subsists in original literary
works, which include computer programs. Since CheatSheet is a computer
program created by M, it qualifies as a literary work, provided that it meets the
originality and material embodiment requirements.
pg. 2 file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/LML4801
Assignment 1 Semester 1 2025
Unique number:
LML4801
Due Date: 3 April 2025
Assignment 1 Semester 1 2025
Detailed Solutions, References & Explanations
Unique number:
Due Date: 3 April 2025
pg. 1 file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/LML4801
, LML4801 Assignment 1 Semester 1 2025 - DUE 3 April 2025
Scenario M is a tech-savvy fourth year law student at a residential South African
university. She created a computer program (Artificial Intelligence (AI)) called
CheatSheet ostensibly to help students with their assignments, which she charges
a once-off subscription fee to use. CheatSheet is trained on the following
documents, without M having obtained any permission for such use: electronic
licensed copies of textbooks that M accessed through the university library’s
website; published versions of court judgments from a law publisher’s database,
including the editors’ summaries at the beginning of each case; study notes
begged, borrowed, and bought from classmates; and lecturers’ notes uploaded
onto their universities’ module sites. M is confident that, because CheatSheet is
for educational use, she cannot be liable for copyright infringement. She also
acknowledges all the authors of material that CheatSheet is trained on as her
“Database co-authors”. Further, M has become aware that Z had copied
CheatSheet and is making it available free of charge, which interferes with the
income M is getting from CheatSheet. 1. Can M prevent Z’s actions in relation to
CheatSheet?
3 DIFFERENT ANSWERS PROVIDED
The Copyright Act 98 of 1978 provides that copyright subsists in original literary
works, which include computer programs. Since CheatSheet is a computer
program created by M, it qualifies as a literary work, provided that it meets the
originality and material embodiment requirements.
pg. 2 file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/LML4801
