The Effects of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 Essay

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 law must come to terms with the difference between artistic intent and economic intent. Artistic freedom is more important for the health of society than the supplemental and extraneous incomes derived from private copyright fees. They create art of police and control, since no matter how the original intent of the copyright laws are, today, they are subverted to censor resented works that suppress the public’s need to reuse and reshape

3: A fair use act is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work.

In part one of this paper I will be discussing fair use in detail. I will be covering why fair use is important, how fair use has developed over time, as well as the four factors in determining whether or not a piece of work qualifies under fair use.

Copyright laws protect the original work of things like writers, drama (on TV, on stage etc.), music (by most artists, you can’t just copy someone’s song.), drawings (paints, digital photos etc.) Software is also protected under this act too.

It is nevertheless important to understand that “Fair Dealing” and “Fair Use” are not synonymous terms since their meaning and scope are defined by different legal systems” (Systems). If this case had taken place in Australia, Fairey would of been found to have infringed copyright because fair dealing only covers the use of copyright works if they are; for personal research or study, criticism or review, parody or satire, or the reporting of news. Fairey’s use of the Associated Press’s photograph did not fall under any of these categories. The “Fair Use” defence was never fully tested under US Law in the case of The Associated Press vs.

The four primary guidelines of the fair use principles are outlined below that apply to the case in question

According to Intellectual Property Quotes (n.d.), “While American intellectual property deserves protection, that protection must be won and defended in a manner that does not stifle innovation, erode due process under the law, and weaken the protection of political and civil rights on the Internet” (Intellectual Property Quotes, n.d.). In this paper I will discuss the facts and legal reasoning of this case, what the Fair Use Doctrine is, and will answer the following: why it is important to protect intellectual property, why it is important for society to have access to intellectual property, and whether the Fair Use Doctrine properly balances the rights of content producers against the public good.

The Fair Use Doctrine recognizes and creates exceptions to intellectual property law when

The first rule the purpose and character of the use are determined on what the background is of the reproduction or material. If the character of use is for nonprofit, educational, and personal reasons those will normally fall within the fair use factor. If the reproduction is based solely for commercial reasons it will be in favor of the original copyright holder. The second factor of the nature of the copyrighted work if it is for if it is to be published or fact based citing the information being used it is considered fair use including the mixture of factual and imaginative. Where the fair use factors tend to lean in the original copyrighters material is when it is unpublished and imaginative. When deciding the amount of work used if it is less than 10% it is considered small amount but if it is the main title in a song or a piece of work and repeated over and over again it is considered not to be fair use. The last factor of the economic impact of the use falls outside the lines of fair use is when royalties are not paid for the works used and when it competes against the

The Fair Use Act is when a teacher or student is allowed to take something off the internet for educational purposes.

The Third factor involves that amount of the original copyrighted work used in relation to the whole work.

The First Fair Use Factor U.S. Code § 107 (1), emphasis on the purpose and the character of the use

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.

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