Ethical Implications In Multimedia

Multimedia is a popular term today, as it not only refers to the combination of audio, video, texts and graphics, but it also points out to the diverse ingenious creations we interact with daily. The growing popularity of multimedia is evident with the rapid advancement of digital technology.
Multimedia is used in multiple fields; which majorly include education, business, entertainment, medicine as well as art and engineering.
Ethical Implications In Multimedia
Ethical Implications In Multimedia

It is through multimedia that great presentations can be delivered that incorporate audio, video, images and animations. This has become a revolution in the world of presenting information. On the other hand people throughout the world are appreciative of the great variety of special effect films, virtual reality and video games. In short multimedia is ruling the world with its creative and aesthetic appeal.

The growing popularity of multimedia has raised a lot of questions worldwide. The very basic and primary concern is of the issue of copyright. 'A copyright is an arrangement of selective rights conceded by a state to the maker of a unique work or their trustee for a restricted timeframe in exchange for public disclosure of the work.

This includes the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work.' (Wikipedia) The important issue here is that the digital media is easily copied and distributed. There needs to be a consideration to protect the original work of the owner.

This ethical issue can be dealt with providing a fully credited work, this referencing ensures the credibility of ones work, and also protects others property. Another aspect to this dilemma is the point of fair usage.

Fair usage refers to the purpose behind using somebody's work; that is whether it's commercial or non-profit? The ordinary uses of multimedia products such as lectures, or self-study are allowable.

Another very important issue that has generated over time is the question of privacy. With the vast amount of data lying on the web and other digital spaces, privacy is a genuine concern. However the only way to ensure safety in this regard is to use authentic sites, and see if the provide legal protection to any information you are uploading.

The other ethical concern related to multimedia is of providing deceptive and misleading information to the people. It can be in the form of un-real images, false claims aided with multimedia enhancements etc. this lowers the reliability of any of the products that are a result of the multimedia design.

Plagiarism
However to lower this problem a way is to set the limit to the amount of multimedia enhancements that can be used to alter images, videos and stuff. In this way creativity can be instilled in any work without going overboard.

The users on the other hand should be well aware about the effects multimedia editing can have on images and video and avoid being misguided by them.

It should also be kept in mind that all multimedia creations should be in line with the moral and cultural variations, and in no way should they be a discomfort for anyone.

"The ramifications of sight and sound are innumerable, however to counter them requires legitimate information and uses of the principles and directions set as of now.