Copyright Laws Should Be Abolished Essay

Piracy has become a major issue in the United States. For every motion picture that has been featured in theaters also has been pirated onto the Internet the next day, and for every new musical album that is released, yet there is a free torrent file of the album within the same hour. Even though these online pirates steal music and movies from other companies and make a drastic profit, yet these “rogue” websites receive 53 billions visits a year from across the globe according to Creative America. The persistence of the thieves that break copyright laws of the productions has lead the entertainment business to place a definitive complaint to the U.S. government of the constant notion of piracy. While the notion of piracy was not left

In recent years, the file sharing of copyrighted material has come under fire. It is a topic that is becoming increasingly morally debatable, as people question whether downloading copyrighted material is to be considered stealing or not. The government and legal action has taken what is mostly harmless file sharing of pop culture and turned it into a very serious crime due to industry pressures. However, there are still supporters of file sharing like myself whom believe the act can be justified and is still ethically sound. In this essay I will explain how copyright, fair use, and public domain play a role in file sharing and also describe why it is not unreasonable for society to commit the crime of copyright infringement.

The duration of copyright determines the length of protection. Limitations on this length exist to ensure works enter the public domain. Therefore, the length of protection is one of the most relevant and debated issues regarding copyright law. The proponents and opponents of copyright term extension make compelling arguments, but both sides agree that copyright law should encourage creativity and innovation. If Disney is successful in once again lobbying for an extension of duration, a substantial number of works will fail to enter the public domain in a timely manner. This will, consequently, lead to a stifling of creativity and a suppression of innovation that could be detrimental to progress in the realms of science and the useful arts.

To answer this, Copyright Law must be understood. Copyright Laws protect intellectual property, and ownership rights. Artists can control their content by selling, leasing it or giving it away. Artists can grant permission for their work and have the freedom to charge. It encourages creativity, and protects the creativity by keeping it exclusive to the creator which allows profit. Mass media embodies the Copyright content,

Since time immemorial, art has been an integral tool in influencing a society, pushing forth ideas, expressing the general atmosphere amongst the party’s involved and fighting vices in the society. Art is fundamental in the transformation of any society through its ability to influence opinions and values. Through sound, vision any other form that art may take, communications is enhanced. Visual art, Music and poetry have always been the most used.

violators. So although some form of a copyright law is needed, the one we have

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded between 2004 and 2009. Even with sites like iTunes and Rhapsody offering legal downloads, peer-to-peer file sharing still exists. Illegally downloading music has had a significant impact on the music industry resulting in a loss of profits and jobs, and changing how music is delivered to the masses. (Adkins, n.d.) Showing that even having the ethically correct option P2P sharing of illegal media is still thriving. The RIAA reports that music sales in the United States have dropped

Copyright is the legal right, to an inventor to perform, print, publish, film, or record artistic, literary, or musical material, and to allow others to do the same. Copyright law was developed to provide the creators and inventors of any works with powerful and effective rights of exclusivity over their creations (Patterson & Lindberg, 1991). Over the past, these rights were almost unlimited. People would use existing developments as if they were their own without any regard of the creator’s exclusive rights. The need to balance and limit such rights arose, and governments established these limits for the general good of the public.

With over three billion people in the world utilizing the internet there is great danger for copyright infringement to occur (Internet Live Stats). Copyright law protects the creator of an original piece of work exclusive rights to the work. Many people who use the internet are sharing files that do not belong to them and are guilty of copyright infringement. Copyright law needs to be tightened up in the digital space to protect the creator of their unique work.

Copyright laws have been in place for over two hundred years.  They are meant to protect from the unauthorized and unlawful use of ideas and media under law, and protect the artist’s integrity. The types of media protected ranges from books to movies, from TV to picture art. In it’s own way, copyright laws have affected society and how media is distributed across the world.

As technology is developing rapidly, piracy is becoming a major concern within the media industry. Digital and software technologies are effecting the operations of business, causing many issues for the economy and the market itself. The effect that this has, is that it is causing many job losses and preventing economic growth.

Identify and discuss these copyright challenges in the modern digital economy using examples from case law.

Art is supposed for expressing feeling and the visualizing the feeling or thoughts of the artists. Censorship is the suppression of content, which is defined as harmful, politically incorrect or sensitive by the authority (cited in Merriam, n.d.). Art and censorship have been connected for a long period of time together. In the recent society, the censorship on artworks is one of the most severe issues when it comes to censorship and the problem happens internationally. Since every individual has the right to define what is acceptable for him/her or not, instead of the government or others, Art should not be censored. The censorship on Art may influence the freedom of Creativity‬ of the artist; the right of the general public to view different topics of artworks and censorship on political Art may affect the human rights and freedom of speech.

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.

Companies like Apple, have decided that it is best to get in with the downloading business. However, an end to the illegal downloading conflict remains to be realized. The RIAA and associated artists continue to wage war against illegal downloaders while computer savvy audiences persist in sharing music files online every day. While it is undoubtedly true that downloading music is a crime, it remains to be proven that it is wrong. Without establishing this principle, most downloader's are likely to continue the activity. Even with new, inexpensive and available means of downloading files, they can still be shared for free online. The rift must be repaired between music lovers who feel that they have been taken advantage of in the past and recording companies and artists who worry about their future livelihood.