Texaco, Inc., conducts research to develop new products and technology in the petroleum industry. As part of the research, Texaco employees routinely photocopy articles from scientific and medical journals without the permission of the copyright holders. The publishers of the journals brought a copyright infringement action against Texaco in a federal district court. The court ruled that the copying was not a fair use. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed this ruling "primarily because the dominant purpose of the use is 'archival'—to assemble a set of papers for future reference, thereby serving the same purpose for which additional subscriptions are normally sold, or … for which photocopying licenses may be obtained."
1. Do you agree with the court's decision that the copying was not a fair use? Why or why not?
2. Do you think that the law should impose a duty on every person to obtain permission to photocopy or reproduce any article under any circumstance? What would be some of the implications of such a duty for society? Discuss fully.
1. The court is absolutely right in its decision because the copyrighted material was used in research without permission of the copyright holder which is violation of the intellectual property laws. It is appropriate because the material was used in company's research work, that generated revenues for the company, which acted unethically by allowing the employees to do so instead of discouraging and stopping them.
2. Though formal permission should always be sought from the copyright holder, there are circumstances where exceptions might be allowed. Such circumstances can be related to emergency where formalities of seeking permission would cause irreperable damages to people, communities and system. Other causes where the work is done to benefit a huge section of the society, such relaxations can be allowed. In making of such laws, the intent behind the work is most important. If unauthorised copying can save few lives or can benefit communities immensely, it is not unethical and can be allowed. However, if someone makes money by such unauthorised copying, it must be stopped by law. Any law that does not see difference between the two cases will affect the society negatively.
Texaco, Inc., conducts research to develop new products and technology in the petroleum industry. As part...
Texaco, Inc., conducts research to develop new products and technology in the petroleum industry. As part of the research, Texaco employees routinely photocopy articles from scientific and medical journals without the permission of the copyright holders. The publishers of the journals brought a copyright infringement action against Texaco in a federal district court. The court ruled that the copying was not a fair use. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed this ruling "primarily because the dominant...