Running head: ETHICS 1

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[University]

[Code]

[Submission Date]
ETHICS 2

The US copyright act argues that for any created product to enjoy protection under the US

copyright law, it has to be sufficiently creative and must be the author's original work (Beebe,

2020). When applying the fair use doctrine, four critical factors must be considered. The first is

the character and purpose for use. The second is the type of copyrighted work. The third is the

portion is taken and the impact on the potential market(Ochoa et al., 2020). Based on this

interpretation of the copyright right act, BIOFree is legally liable for allowing their employee to

use the Code copied from ORUN corporation. The employee copied 6500 lines of Code.

Moreover, code usage had significant financial implications. It gave BIOFree unfair competition

against their competitors. This was a clear violation of the copyright law and fair use doctrine,

and the company must compensate ORUN competition.

As a member of the Board, I will push Rose to be discharged from their duties and allow Jackson

to continue his duties. Rose knowingly used Code from another company, yet she knew it was

against the law. This has far-reaching financial implications for the company. Jackson only

detected the vulnerabilities in the Code. He was not responsible for copying the lines of Code

from another company.

Even though Rose and Jackson's actions are inexcusable, they allowed the company to have a

competitive edge against their competitors. In addition, they have been open about their actions

and are remorseful about the implications. They are talented programmers, and it would be a

shame to let them go.

The fair use doctrine could be used in their defence. They were not driven by a profit motive

when they copied the Code. The primary goal was to establish any vulnerabilities.
ETHICS 3

Jackson and Rose are skilled professionals and are significant assets to the organization. Jackson

is a grey hat hacker who can identify vulnerabilities in Code and thus save the organization

millions of dollars. Rose has excellent programming skills. If the company decides to let them

go, it becomes difficult to replace them.

The final decision is to retain Jackson and Rose because they are valuable members of the

organization. It may not be easy to find a replacement due to their depth of technical skills.

Moreover, the damage has already been done and discharging them is inconsequential.

References

Beebe, B. (2020). An Empirical Study of US Copyright Fair Use Opinions Updated, 1978-

2019. NYU J. Intell. Prop. & Ent. L., 10, 1.

Joyce, C., Ochoa, T. T., & Carroll, M. W. (2020). Copyright law (p. 25). Carolina Academic

Press.