Australian Copyright Law

Question: Discuss about theAustralian Copyright Law. Answer: Introduction Copying of another person`s work cannot be justified or defended by any term of defence (Song-Turner 2009). Content and concepts for any work becomes owned immediately it is produced. The discretion to copying and reuse of such material is in this case placed on the owned. In the event that an individual makes a claim to someones work or makes use of it without proper acknowledgement then that amounts to plagiarism. Plagiarism creates a negative impact on an individual`s level of creativity and invention. Plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional but the effect goes a long way. Giving credit when a part of work or the whole of it is used ensures that the hard work and the effort invested by an individual in developing the piece of work is respected and recognized. In other instances, plagiarism may be considered a patent breach which can lead to prosecution in line with copyright laws. This can lead to legal procedures or potential fines and charges. This paper gives a detailed account on why it is not appropriate to make use of an individuals work or make use of it without making a proper acknowledgement. It also discusses on the needs to have proper acknowledgement of authors for sources used while developing a paper. According to the Australian law, such acts amounts to copyright infringement. Such use is considered misconduct and carries punishable terms in the laws of Australia. It is understandable that an individual may unknowingly do such an act due to poor understanding or in some case because of being misinformed and not knowing how exactly to acknowledge the sources used. Plagiarism as an act has a very negative domino effect on both individuals and the society in general. Plagiarism amounts to theft which is a negative vice and a wrongful act in any society (S?trba, 2012). It is highly unethical to use someone`s work without consent. It is not a victimless act when unethically using an individual`s work as the values and pride of ownership is taken away from the authors through such acts. It belittles their efforts casting valuelessness in their hard work and commitment while producing the work. Plagiarism also tarnishes academic integrity casting a shadow on the need for education as it implies dishonesty and lack of respect on knowledge development and impact. The owner of a concept, idea of a writing is the only person legal entitled to complete free use of such documents. In any instance a content or idea has been produced, it is only the owner that has the rights to reuse it or reproduce it in any manner. Any other person can only, through the consent of the originator, make a publication of it as a whole or a part of it. The author of such writings can make oral reporting or a combination of drafts and any other material used in the development as an evidence in a legal proceeding (Lang, 2016). Unknowingly accepting a plagiarised work leads to misplaced recognition of work. Plagiarised work denies the original author the deserved recognition for his or her writing. Development process of original work is always excruciating involving a lot of literature, research work and consultation. It is disheartening to give credit to an individual who has simply lifted an already processed work when the originator may have not received much recognition. In a learning environment, this discourages commitment to research work while on the other hand favouring dishonesty (Fitzgerald Gilchrist, 2015). Plagiarism causes degeneration in learning environments. A plagiarised work limits the learning process of a student or that particular individual. Due to plagiarism, students miss he opportunity of skill development. The learning process is also obscured because no effort has been placed in the concept development and research work. Students have the necessity of skill development including personal knowledge acquisition. Plagiarism breaks the trust instructors have on their students as the practice amounts to fraudulent deception. Plagiarism prevents personal growth on a learner (Alexander Go?mez-Arostegui, 2016). Submitting a plagiarized work on a task given to assess understanding of a concept prevents a tutor from identifying the weak areas of a student. Assumptions made that the concept is well understood can have a dire consequence latter on in life or in the learning process when they are needed. It leads to culturing of students who are weak in the professional and educatio nal fields while having great accreditations. At high volumes, plagiarism dilutes the academic outcomes in learning institutions. Students get lazy in carrying out learning tasks including material use, writing notes and withdrawal during classes and learning points. This leads to undesirable practices in learning environments (Eechoud Kluwer Law International, 2009). Submission of plagiarised materials blurs assessment and the learning process as a whole. While doing markings and assessments, the tutors end up awarding the students wrong ratings due to plagiarised work. This means that an individual gets credit for content developed by a different person. The students get accredited for skills they may be having very little knowledge and understanding on. When certifying, it is not right that the students who have invested time and effort in to developing an original work are issued the same accreditation as another who has simply copied materials from another source. Lifting and claiming ownership violates a persons investment in both time and effort. A plagiarizer gaining more on recognition as compared to an original developer weakens the concept of creativity and innovation in learning environment (Cantatore, 2014). In a working environment, plagiarism indicates dishonesty as an employee. Involvement in plagiarism is an indication of a dishonest individual and a reflection on behaviour. In the event an individual who plagiarizes is employed in a data sensitive field then such habits ca lead to misdiagnosis and misappropriation due to skewed information. The individual may also be lacking essential practical skills which may have a negative impact while carrying the roles responsible for. Technological innovations and societal factors are constantly modelling and influencing individuals in to copy and paste as a short cut to achieving tasks. Pressure from supervisors at the places of work in addition to pressure from competitors may influence an individual in to engaging in such activities to shorten the delivery time for the tasks assigned. Plagiarism sets a bad example to juniors in any environment (Strowel, 2009). It drives a negative of wrong being right. It kills critical thinking as individ uals see success to be easily achieved through taking credit on another peoples works. Benefits gained from plagiarism can only be short lived. The test or task may be passed at the moment but later on in life, such habits causes a limitation to the ability of an individual in applying creative abilities in a present situation which demands for the specific skills which should have been developed already. When stealing ideas from another person, the gains acquired are normally limited as compared to the restrictions impacted on creativity and originality (Atkinson, 2007). In conclusion, as documented in the paper, it is clear that use of a person`s work or claiming ownership is very bad and is classified as cheating or stealing of ideas. It is not acceptable because it creates discomfort and disheartening to the original authors due to the lack of recognition for their work. The act indicates lack of respect for the original authors while depicting the perpetuator as an insensitive, rude and disrespectful. It eliminates creativity and originality creating unfair recognition and misplaced crediting of unqualified individuals at the expense of the qualified and hardworking ones. The taking advantage of others is highly discouraged among learners and professionals in their fields. References Atkinson, B. (2007).The true history of copyright: The Australian experience 1905-2005. Sydney: Sydney University Press. Alexander, I., Go?mez-Arostegui, H. T. (2016).Research handbook on the history of copyright law. Cantatore, F. (2014).Authors, copyright, and publishing in the digital era. Hershey PA : Information Science Reference, 2014. Eechoud, M. M. M., Kluwer Law International (Firm). (2009).Harmonizing European copyright law: The challenges of better lawmaking. Austin [Tex.: Wolters Kluwer Law Business. Fitzgerald, B. F., Gilchrist, J. (2015).Copyright perspectives: Past, present and prospect. Cham : Springer, 2015. Lang, M. (2016).Tax Treaty case law around the globe 2015. Amsterdam: IBFD. Strowel, A. (2009).Peer-to-peer file sharing and secondary liability in copyright law. Cheltenham,UK: Edward Elgar. S?trba, S. I. (2012).International copyright law and access to education in developing countries: Exploring multilateral legal and quasi-legal solutions. Leiden: M. Nijhoff Pub.