Copy RIGHTS!!!-- COM125-Assignment #3

Do you find it annoying when people copy work that you’ve done because they’re just not creative enough to develop their own? Or was there ever a time when you had a project that was so similar to a fellow classmate’s because they stole your idea, and then they happen to get a better grade on it than you? I’ve had almost all these things happen to me and let me tell you, it’s pretty frustrating. They weren’t that serious at the time but if I was doing research for my MBA with all my own ideas and someone tried to steal my work, I would have to say that it’s considered Copyright infringement.

To gain a better understanding on this topic, I’ll start off by defining what Copyright is.

Copyright is a form of protection that is given to authors or creators for their original work. This can consist of their books, dramatical, artistical, musical, and other intellectual works. This means that as the original creator of a specific work, you can or allow others to:

• make copies of your work
• distribute copies of your work
• perform your work publicly (such as for plays, film, dances or music)
• display your work publicly (such as for artwork or stills from audiovisual works, or any other material used on the Internet or television); and
• make “derivative works” (including making modifications, adaptations or other new uses of a work, or translating the work to another media)
  (http://www.copyrightkids.org/whatcopyframes.htm).

Copyright infringement is abusing the power of copyright. This is when you fail to respect the original thoughts and ideas of an author or creator. It occurs when you try to steal someone’s work without their permission. It is highly illegal to do this and you can be fined a lot of money for it.

Now that we know a lot about copyright, and copyright infringement, let me explain to you how I DON’T think that this is the case when it comes to sharing music.

Balancing the interests of content creators and the public good can be a difficult one. It’s hard to please both sides, but it is possible. I personally feel that there can be a middle ground for these two sides. A few possible solutions are networks or websites that can be used to share digital content, for example Napster.

Ahh, Napster. Just the sound of that word I’m sure, gives us all great memories of how exciting it was when we were first introduced to this brilliant idea.

Downloading music off the Internet has become one of the most common things to do in our generation. Years ago it seemed so far fetched, but now it’s become a part of our culture. Another NOT very surprising fact is that according to a new CNN/USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, 17% of adults connected to the Internet at home or at work, have downloaded music as well.

Napster was a program that enabled mass sharing of pirated copies of music. Since it was found illegal, it was shut down by a strong fight from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After this issue with Napster occurred, there was a middle ground that was found for both technology and freedom itself. The peer to peer (p2p) file sharing was introduced, which wasn’t considered illegal because the programs don’t keep track of what the actual files are (http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/02/debate_on_downl.html).

Even though some people think that downloading music online through file sharing programs is a considered stealing, or a crime, I don’t. Piracy, or the reproduction, of music actually helps musicians. For example, through Myspace and Youtube we are introduced to new artists everyday. We can hear their songs on these sites, and even download them to our computers. This is a way for them to advertise themselves by making their music accessible to the public. According to the website found on
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Music/musiclaw4.html, 75% of all artists profit from filesharing.

Another argument I want to express is that consumers have the right to have their own music, and copy them onto CDs. This can be from making your own mixes on CDs, to copying music onto your PCs, and even transferring tunes to an MP3 player. These actions seem so normal, don’t they? I sure think so. If we weren’t allowed to do things like this, where do VCRs, photocopiers, and tape recorders come into play?

David Lieberman from USA Today says “it's also far from clear that piracy is even a main reason the music industry's in trouble.” So this means that music piracy shouldn’t be blamed for the troubles of the music industry. "In 1997, 11% of music was pirated, and 40% of computer software was pirated," says PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Saul Berman. "Who makes more money: Microsoft or the record companies?"

So as we can see from many different perspectives, file sharing and downloading music is not the end of the world. It gives us freedom to dive into the world of music without having the trouble of finding the right amount of money to buy it. Music is such a big part of our lives today that for some people, it even defines who they are. Some of the hottest and newest bands and musicians today are becoming stars because of downloading music, so why would we want to take that away from them, or us?

References:

http://www.copyrightkids.org/whatcopyframes.htm

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/02/debate_on_downl.html

http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Music/musiclaw4.html

Lieberman, D. (2002, April 8). Money: Piracy Pillages Music Industry. USA Today.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/covers/2002-04-05-music-piracy.htm