Reading Copyright and the Issue of Downloading Essay

Is important for anyone who has created any intellectual property to protect it. In the music industry, in order for someone to protect their work, they must obtain a copyright. Music has been around before anyone could obtain a copyright and when the invention of the computer came along it made it easier for someone to steal another artist's intellectual property with the help of the internet. This paper will cover what events have taken a big role in copyright protection for artist, the consequences if someone was to break the rules of a copyright which is called copyright infringement, and how will a copyright hold in the future. Were copyrights enacted without the thought of life changing technology, and how can some music companies

Nowadays, the world of music has become one of the favorite ways to enjoy daily activities with people. Moreover, the technology provides an opportunity to people to learn how to produce music. However, here comes a serious problem with the convenience of the easy accessibility to get the music resources, it caused the problems of indiscriminate use and pirated copyright.

Some artists also have the rights of attribution and integrity, meaning they can claim authorship and prevent the use of their name for works that are not theirs. There are different time constraints for a work to be copyright-protected in the United States according to the Artists Rights Society. They also explained that any changes in copyright terms have occurred over the years, but now there is a total of 95 years of copyright protection of works published before January 1, 1978, and a term of the lifetime of the artist plus 70 years for works published after January 1, 1978. The term of copyright protection is different from country to country and depends on what the individual nations decide to do. On the “Copyright Basics” page of Artists Rights Society, they state that in 1994, the European Union, as a whole, established a term of the lifetime of the artist plus 70 years. Understanding the background information about copyright in the United States is helpful when discussing the specific issues right for artists.

Music Copyright is a very important aspect of the music industry. The Copyright law was established to preserve the creativity and rights of authors, composers, performers of expression. Copyright is the law that protects the property rights of the creator of an original work in a fixed tangible medium. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/copyright) A fixed tangible medium is something substantial like copying lyrics on paper or putting a song on tape or CD. Copyright can be seen every where in the music industry. Many music artist of our culture today have been involved in copyright issues. Recently, on MTV news it was stated that, "As the music industry becomes increasingly concerned about protecting the

In the article "When Stealing Isn't Stealing" the author explains that an individual’s original work should be lawfully protected.

In 1909, the United States government passed a measure that would allow individuals to make a legal claim over their own intellectual property. Meaning that individuals who own intellectual property, which is considered works, are given exclusive rights to the materials they produce. Copyright law has been creates an environment that owners of the materials or works grant others who do not own that work permission to use it for their own needs (Copyright, n.d.). The intent of Title 17 the Copyright law, is that even though an owner has rights over their work, in some specific instance a non-owner may be able to copy, repeat, or use material that is not their own. This action is called fair use; which is found in Section 107 of Title 17.

To begin, copyright is the privilege of an author of a work to keep others from utilizing his or her work without consent. An author of a work has the selectors right to state yes or no to the different

Today, most people who download music illegally do it by using new peer-to-peer networks like BitTorrent. The BitTorrent protocol is for of handling a lot of data very quickly and is very popular for people who upload and download copies of movies and television programs that have no license. In more recent years, dozens of major record labels and Hollywood studios have begun offering legal videos and tracks through BitTorrent in order to distribute their content on their own terms and avoid the pirating of their content.

Copyrightable characters with distinctive characteristics that are highly recognizable to that character will qualify for copyright protection;

If you want to download safely try: researching for legal downloads, and asking the original owner for permission (“How to Tell Whether You are Downloading Illegally”). The web provides these valid sites that can download music safely (“7. Pros and Cons of Downloading and Streaming”). As you know the download is only illegal if the content is copyrighted. However, it’s okay to use some apps without having the law come knocking on your door. For instance, if you’re guilty of using apps like Spotify, you’ve been given a license to listen to it not the permission to own it (Price). Some applications used are giving you legal content you just have to know how to see that. Try doing your research with these sites or apps. If it has permission from the original creator or they’re the creator themselves the song was never illegally in your hands to begin with. If your wanting to operate a music downloader that is a big no from the law, unless you have the requirements to do so (Sanchiez).

Copyright Law 1988 automatically applies whenever an individual undertakes any following work such as: Dramatic, Artistic, Sound Recording, Musical or Film. In order for the law to apply, the work requires to be an original and not copied or adapted from any existing work. Usually the individual or joint authors who have created the work will exclusively own the work and would be referred to as the “first owner of copyright”. However, if the work has been produced as part of service then the first

As mentioned earlier, exclusions to copyright protection exist and are known as the Fair Use Doctrine. This doctrine was established in section 107 of the 1976 copyright act as a response to some major cases heard previously. Protected works that are used for the purpose of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research fall into the realm of fair use and do not require payment or authorization from the creator. However, this only gives people a limited privilege, and not an absolute right to use the work.

Copyright protects almost all works of creative expression “fixed in a tangible medium of expression” but it

Copyright protection extends to expressions and not to ideas . Originality is the threshold standard of requirement of copyright. The case Walter v Lane [1900] AC 539 expounded the three essential elements (labour, skill and judgment ) of originality. The court adapted to sweat of brow test with no element of creativity require to make the work original. Copyright can be granted if a work is created through the effort of an individual despite the work containing statement of facts and no creative input by an author.

Copyright notices—often just a simple statement on the work itself of the year protection was acquired and by whom—are not always a good indication of whether or not a work is protected because most countries do not require such formalities, and so lack of notice does not mean lack of protection. Courts may also subsequently decide in the context of an infringement suit that the work did not meet the minimum criteria for copyright protection, even if the work had been previously registered by a government copyright agency. However, copyright notices give at least some indication of who to contact if permission is