IC210: Ethics (copyright, collaboration & plagiarism)

Reading

Review the ethics / copyright / collaboration /plagiarism slides. Also, here's a 4-per-page version of the slides.

U.S. Copyright Office "Fair Use" Informaiton

Here are two excerpts that I think are informative. [Note that they both are products of the U. S. Government and thus in the public domain!]

"Copyright protects the particular way authors have expressed themselves. It does not extend to any ideas, systems, or factual information conveyed in a work."

— http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

I think this is illuminating because it says something concise and authoritative about what cannot be copyrighted. The next quotation is from a a legal ruling, and I think it sheds some light on Fair Use and its limits.

"[A] reviewer may fairly cite largely from the original work, if his design be really and truly to use the passages for the purposes of fair and reasonable criticism. On the other hand, it is as clear, that if he thus cites the most important parts of the work, with a view, not to criticize, but to supersede the use of the original work, and substitute the review for it, such a use will be deemed in law a piracy ... "

— Judge in Joseph Story in Folsom v. Marsh (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use)

A few extra notes about copyright and programs

It's worth making a few remarks specifically about programs and copyright. These are just some general observations, and I sure wouldn't rely on them as expert legal advice, but none-the-less they hopefully help provide some big picture view of programs and copyright.

Copyright generally applies to programs. If a program is in the public domain, copyright does not apply. Otherwise, what privileges the copyright holder grants others is usually spelled out in a license. (This is also true for many other kinds of electronic media, photos or example.) If you write software and want to release it to the world, you might want to look at some of the common software licenses, like the Apache License, The Gnu Public License, or the Free BSD license.
An algorithm --- distinct from a particular embodiment of the algorithm as a program --- would not seem to be copyrightable, but rather patentable. That means that unless the authors/inventors of an algorithm have a patent, you can freely use that algorithm.
Functionality, interface, look-and-feel: There was a famous court-case in the 90's in which Apple claimed that Microsoft infringed on Apple's copyright by imitating the look and feel of its graphical user interface in Windows. They lost! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Microsoft_Corp.) Note: They did win one small part of the suit, because the folder and trash can icon in an HP application running on Windows was deemed to infringe. So, look-and-feel, interface, functionality ... these are not copyrightable. Something like an icon is --- which makes sense, since it is on its own copyrightable like a normal work of art.

An example of as question you should be able to answer

Answer the following questions according to Copyright Law as applied to online materials.

On some other school's website, you find the online notes for a course similar to IC210. They are publicly available on that website, and you find them helpful. Can you legally download these notes and then bundle them into a pseudo-textbook for your own personal use?
Can you make multiple copies of the pseudo-textbook described in 1 above at Kinkos and then sell these copies on e-bay?
Would your answer to 2 change if you didn't charge folks money for the copies?

Lifelong Learning

Continuous Learning Brief - Please read this brief that describes some of the opportunities here at USNA and beyond for continuing to learn and develop as a computer scientist.
USNA & Graduate School - This link talks about graduate school possibilities for USNA students after (and in some cases even before) graduation.