Ethics, Professionalism, and Governance: Copyright Case Study Analysis

This case study examines a scenario involving Courtney, a talented programmer who developed a user interface for the aboriginal community in Australia, and Michael, her senior, who took credit for her work. The analysis focuses on copyright and intellectual property considerations, highlighting the importance of ethical conduct as per the ACS code of ethics. The case study explores the values of primacy of public interest, enhancement of quality of life, and competence demonstrated by Courtney. It also critiques Michael's unethical behavior in denying Courtney credit for her work, violating the professional conduct of honesty. Recommendations include legal recourse for Courtney, referencing the Copyright Act 1968 and related legislation. The case study emphasizes the significance of protecting intellectual property and ethical practices within the context of professional development.

Ethics, Professionalism and Governance
Analysis and Discussion

Table of Contents
Analysis and Discussion................................................................................................................................3
Case Study 3 – Copyright and Intellectual Property Considerations.........................................................3
Recommendations......................................................................................................................................4
References......................................................................................................................................................5

Analysis and Discussion
Case Study 3 – Copyright and Intellectual Property Considerations
The importance of copyright was always there but day by day it has become of paramount
importance due to growth and development of new media where intellectual property could be
generated and also published. Copyright is defined as the exclusive assignable legal right that is
enjoyed by the creator or the original owner of a particular piece of intellectual property. The
protection by copyright provides exclusive rights to the owner to enjoy all sorts of fame and
financial reward resulting from this invention of creation and hence it will be illegal if anyone tries
to plagiarize the creation or use it in their own name (Ricketson and Creswell, 2015). This
aspects becomes very relevant in the contemporary world of social media and internet as
everyday huge volume of data is generated and is used by consumers where unknowingly they
infringe copyright rules by not giving the main creator the credit he or she deserves and that is
why the case of Courtney an young and ambitious programmer have been taken to analyse and
discuss copyright and intellectual property considerations (Bently and Sherman, 2014).
In this case it is clear that Courtney is an aspiring and talented programmer who has worked very hard to
design a user interface which provides excellent accessibility to the aboriginal community in
Australia. With this Courtney has definitely fulfilled the ACS code of ethics and professional
conduct. As per the ACS code of ethics Courtney has followed the values of:
Primacy of public interest: Here Courtney has developed the user interface which would help
the aboriginal communities to work effectively and connect to internet. She has been able to
safeguard the interest of aboriginal community in Australia for which she should be appreciated.
The enhancement of Quality of Life: With this Courtney is likely to help the aboriginals to lead
a quality life (Weckert, 2017).
Competence: She has completed the work with competence and has received accolades for
her work at the organisation which clearly showed that the stakeholders have been facilitated
with this.
In Accordance with the ACS code of ethics the professional conduct showed by Courtney is:
She analysed the segments impacted by her work and considered the interest of the aboriginals
in Australia.
She enhanced the quality of life through the development of the user interface recognising their
need.
Courtney has completed her job competently and diligently following the ethics of competence.
Michael clearly did not give Courtney the deserved credit which is against the professional
conduct of honesty.
Courtney took classes along with office work to upgrade skills and knowledge which fuels
professional development (McDermid, 2015).
From the critical analysis of the case it could be said that Michael who is Courtney’s senior in the office
did not act ethically and took all the credits for the work and Courtney remained deprived which
is clearly not an ethical act.

Recommendations
It could be recommended to Courtney that she could sue Michael legally stating the fact of infringement
of copyright of intellectual property. As per the Copyright Act 1968 and in support with the
Computer Software Protection Report 1994 any person breaching the copyright of intellectual
property is liable to be sued by the Australian Legal System. The Similar view has been heard in
the Copyright Amendment (Computer Programs) Act 1999 where the person will be able to get
license and official ownership of the work, and if it is granted by the organisation the
organisation will get it, but no individual apart from the creator will be able to take the credit
(Ricketson and Creswell, 2015).

References
Bently, L. and Sherman, B., 2014. Intellectual property law. Oxford University Press, USA.
McDermid, D., 2015. Ethics in ICT: an Australian perspective. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Ricketson, S. and Creswell, C., 2015. The law of intellectual property: copyright, designs and
confidential information. Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Limited.
Weckert, J. ed., 2017. Computer ethics. Routledge.