YOUCAT Question n. 429 - What rules apply to intellectual property?
(Youcat
answer) The misappropriation of intellectual property is theft also.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 2408)
The seventh commandment forbids theft,
that is, usurping another's property against the reasonable will of the owner.
There is no theft if consent can be presumed or if refusal is contrary to
reason and the universal destination of goods. This is the case in obvious and
urgent necessity when the only way to provide for immediate, essential needs
(food, shelter, clothing…) is to put at one's disposal and use the property of
others (Cf. GS 69 § 1).
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) Not just plagiarism is theft. The theft of
intellectual property begins with copying other students’ work in school,
continues in the illegal taking of materials from the Internet, applies to the
making of unauthorized copies or trafficking in pirated copies in various
media, and extends to business dealings in stolen concepts and ideas. Every
acquisition of someone else’s intellectual property demands the free consent
and appropriate remuneration of the author or inventor.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 2409)
Even if it does not contradict the provisions of civil law, any form of
unjustly taking and keeping the property of others is against the seventh
commandment: thus, deliberate retention of goods lent or of objects lost;
business fraud; paying unjust wages; forcing up prices by taking advantage of
the ignorance or hardship of another (Cf. Deut 25:13-16; 24:14-15; Jas 5:4; Am
8:4-6). The following are also morally illicit: speculation in which one
contrives to manipulate the price of goods artificially in order to gain an
advantage to the detriment of others; corruption in which one influences the
judgment of those who must make decisions according to law; appropriation and
use for private purposes of the common goods of an enterprise; work poorly
done; tax evasion; forgery of checks and invoices; excessive expenses and
waste. Willfully damaging private or public property is contrary to the moral
law and requires reparation.
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