Kayla's Ideas on Law, Ethics, & Diversity

Copyright refers to the legal protections offered to creators of "original works of authorship" that are fixed in a physical form of expression under US law. In basic terms, copyright is the right to copy . This means that the original authors of products have the exclusive right to duplicate the work. It protects creators of original material from unauthorized duplication or use. Examples of copyrightable works include literary, musical, dramatic, pictorial, graphic, sculptural, motion pictures, and architectural works. Copyright provides the copyright owner with the exclusive right to distribute copies of the work to the public by sale, rental, lease, or lending.   An example of copyright can be seen in the Good Morning to You Production v. Warner/Chappell Music case.  In 2015, Warner/Chappell Music was sued by Good Morning to You Production. Good Morning to You Production was a team that was in the process of making a documentary. Warner/Chappell bought the rights...

 Defamation is the action of hurting an individual's reputation. It is split into two areas called libel and slander. Libel is false defamation that is expressed in writing, print, pictures, or signs, that intend to hurt a person's reputation and expose them to public hatred and ridicule. Slander is spoken defamatory statements, such as claiming someone is a racist, rapist, or murderer. The  Hustler Magazine, Inc v. Falwell  case in 1988 is a great example of defamation of an individual's reputation as Jerry Falwell sued Hustler's magazine ad campaign for libel, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In this case, Hustler Magazine issued a parody of Falwell in an advertisement that resembled an actual ad campaign but claimed Falwell had a drunken incestuous relationship with his mother in an outhouse. A jury verdict granted Falwell $150,000 in damages for his emotional distress claims. Privacy is important in entertainment, media,...

Whistleblowers are employees who work for a company or the federal government to investigate and disclose severe breaches of public trust. The whistleblower position is important because they hold the institution and leaders accountable. They believe that there is a violation of the law or regulation, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, abuses of power, or a danger to public health or safety. Whistleblowers are the ones who want to spread the truth.  According to the National Whistleblower Center, whistleblowers are the ones who have exposed many secrets in cases. For instance, one case of these cases addressed the Vietnam War. By releasing the Pentagon Papers, which demonstrated that the United States had lied about its participation in Vietnam, former American military analyst Daniel Ellsberg exposed the misbehavior of the American government during the Vietnam War. It was exposed that former Presidents continued to send American soldiers to fight in a war that cou...