Copyright and

Cambridge plagiarism
IGCSE Unit 6 Ethics
Computer Science
Section 1

1
Objectives
• Understand the difference between ethics and law
• Understand the principles of copyright law and know
how to apply it
• Explain the wider effects of copyright infringement
• Define and compare plagiarism with copyright law
• Describe how social responsibility impacts computer
use
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Ethics and Law

• Ethics
• Social guidelines
based on moral
principles and
values
• Law
• Rules and
regulations with
specific
consequences and
penalties if violated
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Copyright law
• Copyright law protects the owner of a creative work
from having it illegally copied
• When you see the symbol and
text, e.g.
© Copyright R Dahl
this means that you are not
allowed to copy or redistribute
this work
• The law applies to all creative
work including music and
software use
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Applying the law to software

• The UK uses the Copyright Designs and Patents Act
• Other countries have similar laws which make it
illegal to:
• Copy software
• Run pirated software
• Transmit copyright software over
a telecommunications line,
thereby creating a copy
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

How long does copyright last?

• In the UK, copyright lasts for the author’s lifetime
plus 70 years after the author dies.
• This differs for most other countries and makes things quite
complex!
• However, if you record a performance of, say, a
symphony by Mozart (who died in 1791), the
performance itself is copyright.
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Examples of infringement
• You make a copy of some games software as a
backup because the licence says that you can. Then
you email the backup to your friends
• You pay a fee to join a film-sharing network that is not
authorised to distribute copyrighted video. Then you
download unauthorised copies of the films you want to
watch
• You take a photograph of a copyrighted painting, and
sell T-Shirts with this printed on the front
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

When is it OK to copy a music

CD?
• It’s OK to transfer a copy of a CD you have bought
onto your computer hard drive or portable music
player, so long as it is just for your personal use
• It’s never OK to sell or make a profit from an
unauthorised copy of copyright material
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Illegal music and software sites

• Some illegal music sites allow users to download
music, games and videos at little or no cost, and
they pay no royalties to the producers or the artists
involved
• Is this fair?
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

What’s the harm?

• Music theft or “piracy” is stealing from all those in the
music industry – the songwriters, recording artists,
audio engineers, computer technicians, producers,
publishers and others
• It is estimated that the illegal downloading of films,
TV programmes and music could mean the loss of
30,000 jobs in the UK alone
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

How do people get caught?

• Every online computer has
an “IP address”. This is like
a fingerprint
• Internet Service Providers
can send out advisory letters
to those who download
copyright material
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

What the artists say…

• KISS frontman Paul Stanley: Illegal music
downloading is "morally" and "ethically wrong," and
new artists "don't have a chance in hell" of "ever
getting that pot of gold." (Source: Daily Mail)
• Taylor Swift: "Piracy, file sharing and streaming
have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales
drastically." (Source: The Wall Street Journal)
• Raisa: "Music streaming is indeed the future of
music distribution." We want to be moving people
from illegal downloading to legal streaming, be it
paid or ad-funded. (Source: The Jakarta Post)
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

What the artists say…

• Shakira: "I like what's going on because I feel closer
to the fans and the people who appreciate the
music," (Source: Daily Mail)
• Lady Gaga: "Big artists can make anywhere from
$50 million for one cycle of two years' touring...
Make music - then tour. It's just the way it is today"
(Source: Techdirt)
• Neil Young: "Piracy is the new radio… That's how
music gets around. That's the real world for kids."
(Source: The Wall Street Journal)
 Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Monkey business
This image is currently at the
centre of a copyright dispute
after the photographer
encouraged the macaque to
Black Crested Macaque ‘selfie’ – David Slater

take the photograph itself

• Who owns the copyright:
• The monkey?
• The photographer who owns
the camera?
• No one?
• What would be fair?
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Plagiarism
• Plagiarism means copying someone else’s work and
presenting it as your own
• This could be ideas, words, images, music etc.
• It has a lot in common with copyright infringement
but is not the same thing
• In general terms, plagiarism is an ethical issue and
copyright infringement is a legal one
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Software to detect plagiarism

• Universities, publishers and other institutions use
software to detect plagiarism
• The software compares, say, a student essay with
millions of online documents to check for a marked
similarity to any other work
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Worksheet 1
• Identifying copyright and plagiarism
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Enforcing codes of ethics

• Company or school ‘Acceptable Use’ polices
• What policies might organisations decide for the
following actions during working hours?
• Social networking
• Posting offensive images of another pupil or colleague
• Performing large music file downloads
• Failure to scan an external drive before using it with a new
network
• Deleting files of another pupil or colleague
• Using the Internet
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Copyright and computer systems

• Computer programs are subject to copyright law
• A user interface, and the ‘look and feel’ of an
operating system, can also be subject to copyright
law
• In 1988 Apple launched a $5.5
billion law suit against Microsoft and
Hewlett-Packard for copying their
GUI interface, first developed in the
1980s. In 1993,they finally lost the
case
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

The size of the problem

• According to the Business Software Alliance or BSA
(www.bsa.org):
• “The commercial value of unlicensed PC software
installations totalled $62.7 billion globally in 2013”

North America

Western Europe

Middle East & Africa

Latin America

Central & Eastern Europe

Asia-Pacific

$- $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60

Unlicensed Value (Billions) Licensed Market (Billions)

Source: http://globalstudy.bsa.org/2013
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Copyright of software
• It is illegal for an individual to copy software such as
a game or application such as a word processing or
graphics package
• What can software developers incorporate into their
system design to try to prevent this?
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Cloud computing
• Software provided via online
cloud services will help to
reduce the amount of piracy
• Software manufacturers will
have greater control over the
distribution of their products
• Usage can be more easily
monitored
• Users can, however, share
their login credentials
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Plenary
• Copyright law differs in each country
• Research the copyright law that applies to you
Copyright and plagiarism
Unit 6 Ethics

Copyright

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