Using Borrowed Material Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Using Borrowed Material - Essay Example Copyright material provides some rights to the person acquiring the licence under copyright laws. The material that is authorized to the person who owns it has the authority to permit or stop others from using it. It is an intellectual property of the original owner and permission must be obtained before using that material for any purpose regardless of the issues relating to its use e.g. urgency, relevance or compulsion. The case in question relates to the use of copyrighted pictures without prior permission and provides an evaluation of alternative choice that was available and more appropriate. In the scenario in question, there are a few facts that are relevant to the act done by Sam Jones. The decision of Sam Jones to use copyrighted material was not an independent factor for using it. Time constraints also led him to use the material without ‘prior’ permission. Time limitation was the greatest fact that led to such a step. In addition, the scenario clearly explains the pressure and compulsion on him to do this unethical and undesirable activity of using copyrighted material without prior permission of the original owner of the photos. Copyrighted material is basically an intellectual property of the original owner of the material published. The copyright laws are connected to the copyrighted material and require every person to take permission before anyone uses the copyrighted material. ‘Prior’ permission to use the copyrighted material is mandatory or else the use of such material will be held liable for infringement (Zimberoff, 2002 p. 188-192). The problem in the above scenario is hence the credibility of the action done by Sam Jones. Was it reasonable and fair to use the material without obtaining permission beforehand? Was it a nice idea to contact the owner of the copyrighted material after using the material?