Essay About Internet Copyright Laws And Copyright Infringement

Internet Copyright Laws
Join now to read essay Internet Copyright Laws
Kevin Kearney
May 4, 2003
MGT 251 / Extra Credit
Internet Copyright Laws
A student comes home to his dorm at the University of Scranton after a rough day
of classes. With the quick internet connection provided on the schools network, the
student makes a few clicks and logs into Morpheus, a program that enables music fans to
download free music. Within a few minutes he is on his way to owning an unlimited
amount of songs at no cost. Everything this student is doing is legal, right? Wrong. The
downloaded music from the internet is copyrighted material.
Todays internet is considered an “information superhighway,” a device where
anything from music, books, programs and information can be shared worldwide. Since
billions of people have the ability to access the internet, the content of the internet can be
difficult to regulate. One controversy which has risen because people can transmit and
share information broadly via the internet is that of copyright infringement. Arguments
over the rights to property on the internet have been heated. For example, Napster
(similar to Morpheus) was sued for providing software that enabled internet users to
download music at no cost. Since the internet is a device that is used worldwide,
copyright laws should exist to protect people who own copyrights so their civil liberties
are not infringed upon.
Because the internet is sometimes considered unregulated, users often assume that
the law does not apply to its use. Widespread misuse of peoples intellectual property via
the internet occurs because of this belief, though anyone can access the internet. Since the
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number of people who have the ability to access the internet is so high, laws that are
made to protect peoples publications in other media should also apply to protect them on
the internet.
Copyrights that protect products can sometimes be confusing to understand. The
simplest way to identify copyright infringement is to question if the copyright is handed
over with the product. For example, if a person owns a compact disc and lets a friend
borrow it, the compact disc is being passed along to the friend with the copyright. If the
person duplicates the compact disc for the friend, the compact disc is handed over
without the copyright of the original compact disc. The same is true for books, logos, and
anything else that can carry a copyright.
An excerpt from Ann Okersons article, “Who Owns Digital Works” (published
in the magazine, “Scientific American”), clearly explains what types of property are
protected under the United States copyright law:
“The most recent revision of the U.S. copyright law, made in 1978, is far more thorough
than its predecessors. It protects creative works in general, including literature, music,
drama, pantomime, choreography, pictorial, graphical and sculptural works, motion
pictures and other audiovisual creations, sound recordings and architecture. (Patents and
trademarks are governed by their own laws, as are trade secrets.) Copyright explicitly
grants the owners of the expression of an idea the right to prevent anyone from making co
copies of it, preparing derivative works, distributing the work, performing it or displaying
it without