John Carlo Tigue August 30, 2016

BSEE - 4 TTH 1:30 2:30 PM

A Case Study of Clare Bartlett: Copyright Concerns

SDX Alliance is a large company that sells computers, computer components,

and software. Ralph is hired as an entry-level software engineer at SDX Alliance. His
first project was to assist in writing the code for SDX Alliances new hard disc controller.
He had previously worked on a similar system interning at a start-up and had written a
code which greatly enhanced the performance of their product. Ralph quietly re-uses
this same code in the SDX Alliance product, and does not think to tell anyone that he
has used the code from his last job. His manager is thrilled with the speed
improvements this code brings to the product.

Before the product is released, it has to undergo a four-month long quality assurance
process review. During the review of the product, it was found the code which Ralph
developed had been copyrighted by the startup he had previously worked for. Even
though Ralph had developed the code, his previous company still owned the intellectual
property rights to it.

When his manager informed Ralph of the problem, Ralph admits he did not realize he
had made a mistake because he was not familiar with copyright laws. Ralph then goes
on to explain that the start-up he used to work for is now out of business and is unsure if
SDX Alliance would be able to get in contact with the owner of the copyright. If SDX
Alliance cant use Ralphs code, then it will have to rewrite the entire code of the
product, delaying its release by many months.

What should they do?

Clare Bartlett was a 2014-2015 Hackworth Fellow in Engineering Ethics at the Markkula
Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

August 2015

Source: https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/more/engineering-ethics/engineering-ethics-
cases/copyright-concerns/
 NARRATIVE REPORT OF THE CASE STUDY

Intellectual property (IP) protection is absolutely critical for protecting a

company's proprietary designs, processes, and inventions that, if leaked to competitors
or made public, could ruin a company's market advantage and reputation or lead to
costly litigation.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), intellectual

property refers to "creations of the mind: inventions, literary, and artistic works, and
symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. IP is divided into two
categories: industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks,
industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and copyright, which includes
literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic
works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural
designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their
performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters
in their radio and television programs."

Engineers, then, are professional innovators who work in the realm of industrial
property and are often the first involved in creating a proprietary design or invention.

Engineers are often on the front line of innovation. As consultants, they also
share intimate details of their clients' designs, materials, products, and processes
highly confidential work. Some scientists, however, are more interested in focusing on
the technology and don't always realize the finer (or more nebulous) points of protecting
IP.

According to the code of ethics for electrical engineers, Members, before

undertaking work for others that involves improvements, plans, designs, inventions or
other records which may be copyrighted or patented, should attempt to enter into an
agreement regarding the ownership of such copyrights or patents.

Therefore, in the case of Ralph, to protect the intellectual property or

infringement of his prior employer, he has to know well if that copyright of the computer
code was owned by his present employer or there is a clear right to copy which is
recorded in a licence agreement. The owner of copyright can control copying of the
materials by others, but not the use of information it is based on. For example, if an
engineering specification is rewritten in different words, there is no copyright
infringement.

Ralph, however, can resolve the dispute of copyright infringement through direct
negotiation, anotice and take down process, or litigation in civil court. Egregious or

Source: https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/more/engineering-ethics/engineering-ethics-
cases/copyright-concerns/
large-scale commercial infringement, especially when it involves counterfeiting, is
sometimes prosecuted via the criminal justice system. Shifting public expectations,
advances in digital technology, and the increasing reach of the Internet have led to such
widespread, anonymous infringement that copyright-dependent industries now focus
less on pursuing individuals who seek and share copyright-protected content online,
and more on expanding copyright law to recognize and penalize as "indirect"
infringers the service providers and software distributors which are said to facilitate
and encourage individual acts of infringement by others.

Source: https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/more/engineering-ethics/engineering-ethics-
cases/copyright-concerns/