Copyright Information

The copyright presentation provided lots of information that was new to me. I have never really learned much about copyright before and I found Diane Graves presentation quite interesting. First, I didn't know that a copyright usually lasts the author's life plus 75 years, but it was extended 20 years in 1998 for Mickey Mouse. (Honestly, I think Mickey Mouse should be copyrighted forever, you can't just remove the copyright of Mickey Mouse, I mean really? Walt Disney was a genius!) I also that people who make parodies are given the right to produce copies. I guess I just figured they didn't need that right. In addition, I learned that the author/writer doesn't actually hold the copyright, instead the publisher is the one who holds the copyright. I thought this seemed a little strange. That is part of what the writers strike was about. The writer's realized that the publishers and film makers wouldn't have anything if it wasn't for them (the writers).

One main issue concerning copyright is all the law suits that are being cast to those who have illegally downloaded music. Many people are having to pay huge fines for downloading music off the internet without paying. On one hand, the person who downloads music is not trying to cause any harm. They may have a good reason why they need the music--like a school or work project or presentation--or they may just be downloading it simply because they like the music. They are not trying to decrease the sales of the music industry or break copyright laws--they are simply doing it because the technology is there and they don't necessarily know any better. It is ridiculous to find them thousands, and hundreds of thousands dollars for just a few songs. If you are going to fine them, then make it reasonable--paying $250,000 because you downloaded a few songs is a ridiculous price and it is unbelieveable that they are getting away with this price.

On the other hand, people who download music are doing it illegally and breaking the law. You cannot just pass around free music. Just because the technology is available does not make it legal. Artists create this music and they should be rewarded by having people actually buy their music. You cannot just take someone's work and make lots of copies to give to different people.

This issue is an interesting one. While I agree that we should not necessarily download music freely. I think that music prices are so expensive today and also that the price that they are sueing peope for is ridiculous. I think that they should not be allowed to sue for so much money and that maybe if they made music prices cheaper, less people would download illegally.