LEGAL AND MEDIA

1. S.M. Irshad. BA (OUSL). REG NO - 30730163 1
BA DEGREE IN SOCIAL SCIENCES
LEVEL -3, SEMESTER-2
SSU-1202-SOCIOLEGALPERSPECTIVES OF COMMUNICATION
TMA-2
REG NO-30730163
1. “The laws of copyright are important in the context of communication.” discuss.
Let us consider what is copyright, copyright means a set of laws provide the protectivity of
an authors work or creation. In other words it provides to the author with protection against
unfair use of his/her work.
Further more copyright is a form of intellectual property, a creation of the human intellect.
It’s a sort of monopoly provided by law to the authors of original literary, artistic and
scientific works.
The history of the law of copyright goes back to the invention of the printing press. By HENRI
VIII (the king of England) banned some works that were odious to him. Some controls like
lisecensing, taxtation, seditious libel. But in the beginning of the 18th century has become a
period to form the law of copyright in England and Germany. The “British Statue of Anne
1709, an act for the encouragement of learning “was the first act to derectly protects the
rights of authors.
Under the US copyright law, the justification appears in Article I, Section 8 Clause 8 of the
constitution, known as the copyright clause.
It empowers the UNITED STATES CONGRESS “to promote the progress of science and useful
arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries”.
The subject matter of the copyright law has two important components such as,
 It must qualify as a work
 Such work must be original.
If there is a work it’s not a standard one but it also protected by the copyright law, high
standard work also same. Originality of a work must be the author’s identity of the work
and it’s not a copied work of others.
So another major component is the ownership of copyright. This means if an author
create a work he must register the work its belongs to him/her.

2. S.M. Irshad. BA (OUSL). REG NO - 30730163 2
This formality is very formal in the Western European Countries but in Sri Lanka this is needless
to do simply because the works ownership is originally granted by Nature Law, which means
automatically. But if the authors work copied one it’s an illegal action which refers to
Infringements of Copyright Law.
In the matter of Sri Lanak considering of the law of copyright some limited actions are granted
by the law under the INTELECTUAL PROPERTY ACT NO-52, 1979.
The copyright law provides protections to literary dramatic and musical works as well as
pictures, TV programmes and sound recordings.
In addition the law provides that people can make fair use of copyright materials without
violating the copyright act.
under the law of copyright valuable creation resources are protect and provide the background
of continuity of creationos.such example a persons life story can be a work by directing of a film,
famous sports women in our country SUSANTHIKA’S life story was directed to a film but she
regrets to give the authority.
Initially only covering books copyright law was revised in the 19thcentury to include maps,
charts, engravings, prints, musical compositions, dramatic works, photographs, paintings,
sculptures. In the 20th century it was expanded to cover motion pictures, computer programmes,
sound recordings, dance and architectural works.
So finally we have come to the conclusion according to the WORLD INTELECTUAL PROPERTY
ORGANIZATION the purpose of the copyright is two fold:
“to encourage a dynamic creative culture, while returning value to creators so that they can
led a dignified economic existence, and to provide widespread ,affordable access to content
for the public.”
“Therefore the law of copyright is an important process of the context of
communication.”
2. “Ethical journalism is essential for peaceful co existence in society”. Discuss.
Journalism ethics are the moral principales,reflected in rules, written or unwritten, which
prescribe how journalists should work and avoid harming and distressing others in the
society,e.g.when gathering information; when deciding what to publish; when responding to
complaints about their work.
Journalism ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and of good practice as
applicable to the specific challenges faced by professional journalists. But currently this
subset of media ethics is widely known to journalists as their professional codes of ethics.
These codes of ethics are commonly drafted by the professional journalism associations and
print, broadcast and online media organizations.

3. S.M. Irshad. BA (OUSL). REG NO - 30730163 3
Let us consider what these ethics are.
I. Responsibility
The public’s right to know of events of public importance and interest is the overriding
mission of mass media. The purpose of distributing news and enlightened opinion is to
serve the general welfare.
Journalists who use their professional status as representatives of the public for selfish
or unworthy motives violate a high trust.
II. Ethics
Journalists must be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to
know the truth.
III. Accuracy and Objectivity
Good faith with the public is the foundation of all worthy journalism.
 Truth is our ultimate goal.
 Objectivity in news reporting.
 There are no excuses for inaccuracies or lack of thoroughness.
 Newspaper headlines should be fully warranted by the contents of the articles
they accompany.
 News reports should be free of opinion or bias and represent all sides of an
issue.
 Journalists recognize their responsibility for offering informed anlysis,
comment, and editorial opinion on public events and issues.
IV. Fair play
Journalists at all times will show respect for the dignity, privacy, rights, and well being
of people encountered in the course of gathering and presenting the news.
The above stated ethics can be define as follows,
Accuracy + Balance + Clarity = Credibility

4. S.M. Irshad. BA (OUSL). REG NO - 30730163 4
A + B + C = C
This is the fundamental theory which the journalists using to make the trust of media among
the people.
So we had come to the conclusion which is known as ethical journalism is essential for
peaceful coexistence in the society, yes this is known as the trust of the media by the people
in the society which gives information, education, persuasion and entertainment.
Finally the consultative club of International Regional Organization of Journalists in Paris in
November 1983 had declared a set of principles of professional ethics in journalism under
the UNESCO, as follows
 True information.
 Dedication to objective reality.
 Social responsibility.
 Professional integrity.
 Public access and participation.
 Respect for privacy and human dignity.
 Respect of public interest.
 Respect for universal values and cultural diversity.
 Examination of war and other great evils confronting humanity.
 Promotion of a new world information and communication order.
 Comments of the Lecturer