CP373: Ethics and Professional Practice Qutaiba Albluwi – Winter 2022
A9: IP Rights in the Digital Age
If you attended the three sessions type the following sentence in the white box:
“I certify that I attended all three sessions of Module 9”
If you attended only one or two sessions type the following sentence:
“I certify that I attended one/two sessions of Module 9, which were on <day> and <day>”
If you were absent in the three sessions, then you cannot submit this report.
I certify that I attended all three sessions of Module 9
Notes:
- This sheet needs to be fully completed, even if you missed one of the lectures. If this sheet is
missing 3 or more answers, then it will be marked as incomplete (50% penalty).
Part 1: IP Rights Scenarios
A1: Your cousin owns and operates a mechanic shop. He asked you to develop a
computer software for managing the purchase and sale of automobile parts. You
happily accepted the offer and delivered the software to him at no charge. The
software worked pretty well, and contributed to the business success of the
mechanic shop. It came to your attention that your cousin lent the software to
some other shops, owned by his friends, at no cost. Do you think your cousin
should have sought your permission before allowing other shops to use your
software? Do you think you can charge the other shops’ owners?
I do think that my cousin should have sought my permission before allowing
other shops to use my software. I do think that I would be able to charge the
other shops’ owners if I have proof of ownership.
A2: A political group organized a forum on its website to encourage people to
post and comment on individual newspaper articles relevant to political issues of
concern to the group. Other participants added their comments, and debate and
discussion of the articles continued. Two newspapers sued arguing that the
articles violated their copyrights. Analyze the case. How do the fair use guidelines
apply? Who should win. [Borrowed from Gift of Fire Textbook 4.11]
[Note: This was an actual US legal case: Los Angeles Times v. Free Republic]
1
, CP373: Ethics and Professional Practice Qutaiba Albluwi – Winter 2022
I think that the political group who organized the forum on their website
should be the ones that win. This is due to the fact that the organization is
not claiming to have written or have ownership over the newspaper articles,
they are simply showing them to spark a debate.
A3: [Adapted from Gift of Fire Textbook 4.21] The first Mickey Mouse cartoon
appeared more than 80 years ago. Give ethical and or/or social arguments both
for and against each of the following uses of the cartoon or the Mickey Mouse
character without authorization from the company that owned or owns the
copyright. Tell which side you think is stronger, and why. Do not consider the
copyright time period under current law or arguments about the ethics of obeying
or breaking laws
(a) Post a digitized copy of the original cartoon on a video sharing site
(b) Use the Mickey Mouse character as the spokesperson in an advertisement
very strongly critical of a candidate running for president
(c) Edit a digitized copy of the original cartoon to improve visual and sound
quality, produce copies with the dialogue dubbed in various other languages
and sell thousands of copies in other countries.
a) Mickey Mouse is owned by Walt Disney and thus the company could
sue the video uploader despite it being a complicated issue.
b) Using the character as the spokesperson means that Mickey is being
depicted in a negative image and thus Walt Disney could possibly sue
to advertiser for it.
c) The edited digitized copy of the original cartoon is profiting off of
Disney’s work despite the character being changed and they could
prevent this from happening off of the insinuation that the character is
still Mickey.
Case A4: One of the solutions proposed to combat copyright infringements is to
tax digital media and equipment to pay for the losses endured by the authors.
This solution is already applied in the European Union. Why is this solution good
or bad?
2
A9: IP Rights in the Digital Age
If you attended the three sessions type the following sentence in the white box:
“I certify that I attended all three sessions of Module 9”
If you attended only one or two sessions type the following sentence:
“I certify that I attended one/two sessions of Module 9, which were on <day> and <day>”
If you were absent in the three sessions, then you cannot submit this report.
I certify that I attended all three sessions of Module 9
Notes:
- This sheet needs to be fully completed, even if you missed one of the lectures. If this sheet is
missing 3 or more answers, then it will be marked as incomplete (50% penalty).
Part 1: IP Rights Scenarios
A1: Your cousin owns and operates a mechanic shop. He asked you to develop a
computer software for managing the purchase and sale of automobile parts. You
happily accepted the offer and delivered the software to him at no charge. The
software worked pretty well, and contributed to the business success of the
mechanic shop. It came to your attention that your cousin lent the software to
some other shops, owned by his friends, at no cost. Do you think your cousin
should have sought your permission before allowing other shops to use your
software? Do you think you can charge the other shops’ owners?
I do think that my cousin should have sought my permission before allowing
other shops to use my software. I do think that I would be able to charge the
other shops’ owners if I have proof of ownership.
A2: A political group organized a forum on its website to encourage people to
post and comment on individual newspaper articles relevant to political issues of
concern to the group. Other participants added their comments, and debate and
discussion of the articles continued. Two newspapers sued arguing that the
articles violated their copyrights. Analyze the case. How do the fair use guidelines
apply? Who should win. [Borrowed from Gift of Fire Textbook 4.11]
[Note: This was an actual US legal case: Los Angeles Times v. Free Republic]
1
, CP373: Ethics and Professional Practice Qutaiba Albluwi – Winter 2022
I think that the political group who organized the forum on their website
should be the ones that win. This is due to the fact that the organization is
not claiming to have written or have ownership over the newspaper articles,
they are simply showing them to spark a debate.
A3: [Adapted from Gift of Fire Textbook 4.21] The first Mickey Mouse cartoon
appeared more than 80 years ago. Give ethical and or/or social arguments both
for and against each of the following uses of the cartoon or the Mickey Mouse
character without authorization from the company that owned or owns the
copyright. Tell which side you think is stronger, and why. Do not consider the
copyright time period under current law or arguments about the ethics of obeying
or breaking laws
(a) Post a digitized copy of the original cartoon on a video sharing site
(b) Use the Mickey Mouse character as the spokesperson in an advertisement
very strongly critical of a candidate running for president
(c) Edit a digitized copy of the original cartoon to improve visual and sound
quality, produce copies with the dialogue dubbed in various other languages
and sell thousands of copies in other countries.
a) Mickey Mouse is owned by Walt Disney and thus the company could
sue the video uploader despite it being a complicated issue.
b) Using the character as the spokesperson means that Mickey is being
depicted in a negative image and thus Walt Disney could possibly sue
to advertiser for it.
c) The edited digitized copy of the original cartoon is profiting off of
Disney’s work despite the character being changed and they could
prevent this from happening off of the insinuation that the character is
still Mickey.
Case A4: One of the solutions proposed to combat copyright infringements is to
tax digital media and equipment to pay for the losses endured by the authors.
This solution is already applied in the European Union. Why is this solution good
or bad?
2
