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MEDIA AND
INFORMATION LITERACY

LEGAL, ETHICAL AND SOCIETAL

ISSUES IN MEDIA AND
INFORMATION
 What is It

What is copyright?
Copyright is mainly the protection of one’s expressions which only becomes
tangible and concepts when objects are created as manifestation of these expression.
Copyright could be a variety of protection provided by the laws to the authors of
“original works of authorship,” together with literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and
bound different intellectual works. This protection is obtainable to each revealed and
unpublished works.
• Set of rights granted the author
• Creator of a piece, to limit others ability to repeat
• Redistribute and reshape the content.

Related Issues
A copyright protects solely original works of “authorship” enclosed
within the following seven categories:
• Literary works (including pc programs),
• Musical works, together with any incidental words,
• Dramatic works, together with any incidental music,
• Pantomimes and dance works,
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works,
• Motion photos and different audiovisual works,
• Sound recordings.

Registering Copyright
Majority of the state signatories of WIPO adhere to the Berne convention that
provides automatic copyright protection. This means that a registration or any other
formality is not required. As for most countries, including the Philippine, there is a
system for voluntary registration of works. Such system “help solve disputes over
ownership or creation, as well as facilitate financial transactions, sales, and the
assignment and/or transfer of rights.”

Fair Use
Fair Use is the limitation and to the prerogative granted by copyright law to
the author of an ingenious work. samples of use embrace statement, search engines,
criticism, news coverage, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship.

Plagiarism
The plagiarism is copying or closely imitating the work of another author,
composer, etc., while no permission and with the intention of passing the results of
as original.

What is netiquette?
Netiquette refers to a collection of rules that governs what conduct is socially
acceptable in a web or digital scenario. It’s a social code of network communication.
Netiquette is a set of rules for behaving properly on-line. It represents the importance
of correct manners and behavior on-line. In general, netiquette is that the set of
skilled and social etiquettes practiced and advocated in transmission over any

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electronic network. Common pointers embody being courteous and precise, and
avoiding cyber-bullying.

Netiquette additionally dictates that users ought to adapt copyright laws and
avoid over victimization emoticons. It could be a short type of network rule or net
rule. The word netiquette could be a combination of ‘net’ (from internet) and
‘etiquette’. It suggests that respecting alternative users’ views and displaying
common courtesy once posting your views to on-line discussion teams.

10 Basic Rules of Netiquette or Internet Etiquette

Know your manners when using Technology. The rules of etiquette are just as
important in cyberspace as they are in the evidence of poor netiquette can stick
around to haunt you for much longer. Follow these basic rules of netiquette to avoid
damaging your online and offline relationships.

DO DON’T
- Respect other people’s privacy - Name-call or express offensive opinions
- Verify facts before reposting - Post private or embarrassing images or
- Check messages and respond comments
promptly - Exclude people or talk behind their backs.

1. Remember That Real People Take Priority

If someone is in the room with you, stop what you are doing and look at them.
And don’t answer your cellphone unless it is to tell the person on the other end
that you will call them right back. If you are expecting an important call or email,
let the person know upfront, and apologize for taking the call. This is also true of
public places, such as restaurants, public transit, stores, and libraries. Avoid
taking phone calls and having conversations in these shared spaces.

2. If You Wouldn’t Say It to Someone’s Face, Don’t Say It Online

Name-calling, cursing, expressing deliberately offensive opinions – if you
wouldn’t do it to the face of anyone who might conceivably see what you write,
don’t write it. This goes for any social media site, forum, chat room, or email
message, even if you think it can’t be traced back to you.

3. If You Wouldn’t Show it in Public, Don’t Share It Online

Naked sex pictures, drunk pictures, drug use pictures, unedited home video
- if you would have a problem with your boss, your parents, or your kids seeing
it now, or at any point in the future, don’t post it online.

4. Don’t Exclude Your Audience

If you have an in-joke to share with one other person, or a small number of
people in a larger online group, send them a private message. Don’t make
everyone else feel left out by posting an obscure comment to your Facebook
status, forum, or Instagram story.
5. Don’t “Friend” Then “Unfriend” People
NO one believes you have 1,000 friends, but it is insulting to be dropped from
someone’s friend list. Think about it before adding them or accepting their
invitation. If you don’t want to be in touch with them, don’t add them in the first
place. If you want to stay in touch for professional reasons, tell them you only

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 use Facebook for close personal friendships, and join LinkedIn or another
professional networking site for more distant contacts.
6. Don’t Overload System Resources With Enormous Files
You might think that sequence of nature pictures with inspirational
statements is wonderfully moving. It might even give you a sense of serenity. But
that is the last thing it will give the person you email it to if it crashes their server,
depletes their inbox quota so their emails get bounced for a week before they
realize, or uses up the last bit of space they needed to complete an important
assignment. So post it to your own space and send people a link. Don’t attached
it to an email.
7. Respect People’s Privacy
Don’t forward information sent to you without checking with the original
sender first. Use BCC (blind carbon copy) rather than CC (Carbon Copy) if you are
sending something out to more than one person. You might think that we are
sending online, but your friends may not want their names and or email addresses
publicized to people they do not even know.
8. Don’t Repost Without Checking the Facts
That cure for cancer might sound pretty impressive, but it will cause upset if
it is a hoax. And urban myths add to the noise of the internet and waste people’s
time. If you aren’t sure of the facts, email it to someone who does know or can
find out. Or do a search on Google or snopes.com.
9. Check and Respond to Email Promptly
By all means, ignore and delete spam, unsolicited messages, and crazy stuff.
But if you have given someone your email address or if you are in a position where
people could reasonably be expected to contact you by email and your email
address is public, have the courtesy to reply to their message within a few days.
If it is going to take longer to reply, email them and tell them that.
10. Update Online Information That People Depend Upon
Don’t leave inaccurate information online just because you can’t be bothered
to update your website. If you are going to be unavailable, for example, don’t leave
your hours of operation online indicating you will be available. If you can’t keep
your website up to date, take it down.

Digital Divide, Addiction, Bullying

Digital Divide
Digital divide could be a term that refers to the gap between demographics
and regions that have access to trendy info and technology, and people that do not
or have restricted access. Before the late twentieth century, digital divide referred
principally to the division between those with and without phone access.

The digital divide generally exists between those in cities and people in rural
areas; between the educated and the uneducated; between socioeconomic groups;
and, globally, between the more and less industrially developed nations. Even among
populations with some access to technology, the digital divide can be evident in the
form of lower-performance computers, lower-speed wireless connections, lower-
priced connections such as dial-up, and limited access to subscription-based content
(Rouse, 2014).

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Computer Addiction
A disorder in which the individual turns to the Internet or plays computer
games to change moods, overcome anxiety, deal with depression, reduce isolation or
loneliness, or distract themselves from overwhelming problems. The elderly, as well
as children and adolescents, are particularly vulnerable because they may not realize
the extent of their dependency. In many instances, individuals with computer
addiction may seek help for another condition, such as depression, phobias or other
addictions (Shiel, 2018).

Bullying
Stopbullying.org (2019) defines bullying as unwanted, aggressive behavior
among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The
behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who
are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

• An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical
strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or
harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different
situations, even if they involve the same people.
• Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential
to happen more than once.

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors,

attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on
purpose.

Three Types of Bullying

• Verbal bullying is saying or writing means things. Verbal bullying includes:

Examples: - Teasing
- Name-calling
- Inappropriate sexual comments
- Taunting,
- Threatening to cause harm.

• Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting

someone’s reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:
Examples:
- Leaving someone out on purpose
- Telling other children not to be friends with someone
- Spreading rumors about someone
- Embarrassing someone in public

• Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions.

Physical bullying includes:
- Hitting/kicking/pinching
- Spitting
- Tripping/pushing
- Taking or breaking someone’s things
- Making mean or rude hand gestures

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Intellectual Property in International and Local Context
Intellectual property, or IP, as defined by the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO), is the “creation of the mind, such as inventions, literary and
artistic works, designs and symbols, names and images used in commerce.” Since
the products of human intellect have a direct influence on human civilization and
on the development of societies, there should be safeguards on intellectual property.

Laws are enacted to enforce and recognition toward the fruits of other
people’s ingenuity. Inventions or creations serve some benefits to user, thus in the
logic of commerce of business, inventions and creators should be properly
compensated for their contribution. If their intellectual property right is protected,
people will be motivated to contribute more by continuously inventing and creating
for the public good on the spirit of fair play.

The WIPO is the “global forum for intellectual property service, policy,
information, and cooperation.” In the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual
Property Organization signed at Stockholm on 14 July 1967 and amended on 28
September 1979, it has been agreed among the state signatories that the WIPO will
be “responsible for the promotion and protection of intellectual property throughout
the world through cooperation among state and, where appropriate, in collaboration
with other international organizations, and for the administration of various treaties
dealing with intellectual property rights,” WIPO has classified the forms of IP .

Table 1. Types of Intellectual Property

Terms Description Coverage
• Legal terms used to describe the rights • Books , Music, Paintings,
Copyright that creators have over their literary Sculpture, Films,
and artistic works Computer program,
Databases,
Advertisement, Maps,
Technical drawings

• Provides the patent owner with the right • Exclusive right granted
Patent to diced how, or whether, the invention for an invention
can be used by others in exchange for
this right. The patent owner makes
technical information about the
invention publicly available in the
published patent document
Trademark • A sign capable of distinguishing goods • Products sold or services
or services of one enterprise from those offered by a business
of other enterprises entity
• Dates back to ancient times when
craftsmen used to put their signature or
“mark” on their products
Industrial • Constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic • Design of an object
Design aspect of an article/object (shape or surface,
patterns, lines, or colors)

Geographical • Sign used on goods that have specific • The name of the place of
Indication geographical origin and possess origin of the
and qualities, a reputation or characteristics goods/products
Appellation that are essentially attributable to that
of Origin place of origin

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The Intellectual Property Law of the Philippines
The Philippines, as a State signatory in the Convention Establishing the World
Intellectual Property Organization, is duty-bound to pass a law on intellectual
property protection. Thus, the enactment of Republic Act 8293, otherwise known as
“The Intellectual Property Code of 1997”.
According to this piece of legislation, intellectual property rights consist of:
1. Copyright and related rights;
2. Trademarks and service marks;
3. Geographic indication;
4. Industrial designs;
5. Patents;
6. Layout-designs {Topographies) of integrated circuits; and
7. Protection of understanding information.

Copyright Protected Works

Under Philippine copyright, both original works and derivative works are
protected.
Original works are those that are literary or artistic in natures which include
the following:
• Books, pamphlets, article, and other writings
• Periodicals and newspapers
• Lectures, sermons, addresses, dissertation prepared for oral delivery, whether or
not reduced in writing or other material form
• Letters
• Dramatic or dramatic-musical compositions; choreographic works or
entertainment in dumb show
• Musical compositions, with or without words
• Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving, lithography or
other works of art; models or designs for works of art
• Original ornamental designs or models for articles of manufacture, whether or
not registrable as an industrial design, and other works of applied art
• Illustration, maps, plans, sketches, chart and three-dimensional works relative
to geography, topography, architecture or science
• Drawings or plastic works of scientific or technical character
• Photographic works including work produced by a process analogous to
photography; lantern sides
• Audiovisual works and cinematographic works and works produced by a process
analogous to cinematography or any process of making audio-visual recordings;
• Pictorial illustrations and advertisements
• Computer programs
• Other literary, scholarly, scientific and artistic works

Works Not Protected

There are also works that are not covered by copyright due to insufficient
authorship or due to the work being of importance to public interest.

1. Unprotected Subject Matter

• Any idea, produce, system, method or operation, concept, principle,
discovery or mere data as such, even if they are expressed, explained,
illustrated or embodied in a mark

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 • News of the day and other miscellaneous facts having the character of mere
items of press information
• Any official text of a legislative, administrative or legal nature, as well as
any official translation.

2. Works of the Government

• Any purpose of statutes, rules and regulations, and speeches, lectures,
sermons, addresses, and dissertations, pronounced, read or rendered in
courts of justice, before administrative agencies, in deliberative assembles
and in meeting of public character. (Sec. 9, first par., P.D. No. 49)