October 30, 2014 1

Copyright and ethics in relation to

multimedia
By
J.A.Amaraweera

(Librarian)

Buddhist & Pali University of Sri Lanka
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Multimedia - Introdution
The term multimedia was originally used to
describe packages of learning materials that
consisted of a book, a couple of audiocassettes
and a videocassette.
Such packages are described then as multiple
media or mixed media
Because of its capability of integrating the four
basic skills of listening, speaking, reading and
writing, multimedia is of considerable interest
to the language teacher.
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Multimedia - definition
Multimedia refers to computer-based materials
designed to be used on a computer that can
display and print text and high-quality graphics,
play pre-recorded audio and video material, and
create new audio and video recordings.


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Multimedia - definition
A combination of two or more digital media
(text, graphics, audio, animation, video,
etc.) used in a computer application or
data file, such as an online encyclopedia,
computer game, or Web site Multimedia
applications are often interactive.
Synonymous in this sense with digital
media
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Multimedia - definition
In a more general sense, any program,
presentation, or computer application in
which two or more communication media
are used simultaneously or in close
association, for example, slides with
recorded sound. Still images
accompanying text are considered
illustration
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What is Copyright
The exclusive legal rights granted by a government to an
author, editor, compiler, composer, playwright, publisher,
or distributor to publish, produce, sell, or distribute
copies of a literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, or other
work, within certain limitations (fair use and first sale).

Copyright law also governs the right to prepare
derivative works, reproduce a work or portions of it, and
display or perform a work in public. Such rights may be
transferred or sold to others and do not necessarily pass
with ownership of the work itself. Copyright protects a
work in the specific form in which it is created, not the
idea, theme, or concept expressed in the work, which
other writers are free to interpret in a different way. A
work never copyrighted or no longer protected by
copyright is said to be in the public domain

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What is Digital rights ?
Digital rights
Ownership of information content published and
distributed in electronic format, protected in the
United States by copyright law. Digital rights
management (DRM) uses technologies specifically
designed to identify, secure, manage, track, and audit
digital content, ideally in ways that ensure public
access, preserve fair use and right of first sale, and
protect information producers from uncompensated
downloading (copyright piracy).

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International copyright

Copyright protection extended to works
published outside a country's borders,
currently governed by national copyright law
and international agreements, such as the
Berne Convention and the Universal
Copyright Convention.

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Berne Convention

An international copyright agreement creating an
International Union for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works signed in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886,
ratified in 1887 by several European countries and their
colonies, and revised periodically. By 1974, there were 64
signatories. The United States joined in 1988. To receive
copyright protection under the Berne Convention, first
publication of a work must occur in a member country.
Works published in nonsignatory nations receive
protection if published simultaneously in a signatory
nation. Protection is for the author's lifetime plus 50 years,
except for anonymous or pseudonymous works and
cinematographic works for which protection expires 50
years after the work has been made available to the
public.

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Universal Copyright Convention (UCC)

An international copyright convention drafted in
1952 under the auspices of UNESCO, revised
in 1971 and ratified by over 65 countries,
including the United States. Under its terms,
each signatory nation extends to foreign
works the same copyright protection it gives
to works published within its territory by one of
its own citizens.

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What is Intellectual property ?

Tangible products of the human mind and
intelligence entitled to the legal status of
personal property, especially works
protected by copyright, inventions that
have been patented, and registered
trademarks. An idea is considered the
intellectual property of its creator only
after it has been recorded or made
manifest in specific form. Abbreviated
IP.

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Sri Lanka Intellectual Property Act
Parliament of the Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka
Intelectual Property Act, No. 38 of 2003

[certified on 12
th
November, 2003]
Printed on the order of Government

Published as a Supplement to Part II of the Gazzette of the
Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka of November 14, 2003

Printed at the Department of Government Printing, Sri Lanka

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IPA Sri Lanka
An Act to provide for the Law relating to
Intellectual Property and for an efficient
procedure for the registration, control and
administration thereof ; to amend the
Customs Ordinance (Chapter 235) and the
High Courts of the Provinces (Special )
Provisions Act, No.10 of 1996 ; and to
provide for matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto be enacted by the
Parliament of the Democratic Socialist
Republic of Sri Lanka
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What is fair use?

Conditions under which copying a work,
or a portion of it, does not constitute
infringement of copyright, including
copying for purposes of criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching,
scholarship, and research.

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Fair Use according to the PIA No.38 of
2003
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of
section (9), the fair use of a work, including such use
by reproduction of copies or by any other means
specified by that section, for purposes such as
criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching
(including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship or research, shall not be an infringement
of copyright.
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Fair use Contd.:
The following acts shall be permitted without the
authorization of the owner of the copyright:-
The reproduction of a short part of a published work
for teaching purposes by way of illustration, in
writing or sound or visual recordings, provided that
the reproduction is compatible with fair practice and
does not exceed the extent justified by the purpose of
such reproduction.
The reprographic reproduction for face to face
teaching in any educational institution the activities of
which do not serve direct or indirect commercial gain
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What is Public domain ?

Works not protected by copyright, or for which
copyright has expired, which may be printed
for distribution and sale, quoted, excerpted,
reproduced, and made available online to the
public without infringement, for example, a
government document over which an agency
decides not to exercise copyright in order to
make its content widely known.

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Duration of Copyright
The economic and moral rights shall be
protected during life time of the author and
for a further period of seventy years from the
date of his death.
In case of a joint authorship, the economic
and moral rights shall be protected during
the life time of the last surviving author and
for a further period of seventy years from the
death of the last surviving author.
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What is ethics ?
The principles of conduct governing an
individual or group; concerns for what is
right or wrong, good or bad
The process of determining how one should
hold the interests of various stakeholders,
taking into account moral values/principles
Conforming to an accepted standard of
human behavior
The process of determining right and wrong
conduct
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Ethical issues of Multimedia
Plagiarism copying of others works or creations
Pornographically reproductions or copying
Censored works
Creations tends for violence ie. Ethnic, Caste or
creed
Creations leads to wars and coups, insurrection
Defamatory reproductions
Creations harmful for religious harmony
Distortions

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