Ownership and copyright

 In the vast and ever-evolving landscape of information technology, understanding the concepts of ownership and copyright has become crucial. As IT students, we dive into these topics not just from a technical standpoint but also considering their legal, ethical, and societal implications.

In the realm of digital information, ownership refers to the legal right to control and use digital assets such as software, digital media, and online content. This concept challenges our conventional ideas of property, as digital goods can be easily copied and distributed without loss of quality. Yet, it's vital to recognize that the creation and development of these digital goods involve time, effort, and creativity, which grants their creators certain rights and protections.

Copyright law plays a pivotal role in protecting creators' rights. It gives authors, artists, and developers the exclusive right to use, distribute, and modify their original works. In the IT field, this covers a wide range of materials including software code, multimedia content, and even user interfaces. Understanding copyright law is essential for respecting others' works and avoiding legal pitfalls.
Our professor presented a thought-provoking exercise: we were asked to apply the "red eye effect," reminiscent of characters from the popular Twilight movie series, to a simple picture of eyes using photo editing software like Photoshop.

We used a tutorial from youtube to apply the effect.

We delved into the concept of RGB values, which stand for Red, Green, and Blue. These values serve as the fundamental components that construct colors on our digital screens. Envision three light sources, each emitting one of these colors. They can vary in brightness, measured on a scale from 0 to 255. For instance, to display a vibrant red, we would set the red light to its maximum intensity (255) while keeping green and blue at their lowest (0). This blend of lights enables our electronic devices, such as computer screens and digital cameras, to interpret and display a wide array of colors by combining these three basic hues.

This assignment wasn't just a lesson in image manipulation; it was designed to deepen our understanding of copyright implications. It highlighted a crucial point – even if you modify copyrighted material, like adding distinctive features associated with well-known characters or themes, it could still lead to legal issues if published without permission. This example served as a practical reminder that copyright extends beyond the original work to include distinctive, recognizable elements, demonstrating how even seemingly minor edits can entangle one in copyright infringements. This lesson underlined the importance of creativity within legal boundaries and the need to always seek appropriate licenses or use royalty-free alternatives when creating derivative works.