Sign in or 
Share this
The Internet & Copyright
How the Growth of the Internet has Affected Copyright Laws
By: Elizabeth Cole
Ethnography Abstract
This ethnography looks at how the growth of the Internet has allowed for easier infringement of copyright laws. All different mediums of entertainment are available online, and companies have answered instances of copyright infringement with lawsuits or their own money-making form of their product available online. The ease with which infringements can happen has also caused governments s to adapt and change their own copyright regulations. The DMCA and the World Intellectual Property Organization have enacted laws to protect copyrights across international borders. As the Internet continues to grow and change, copyright infringement will be a major issue because of how easy these infringements can be.
The Internet allows for countless amounts of information to be shared and shown around the world. As the Internet grows, so do instances of copyright infringement. Copyright law has been a part of United States law since 1790, but has seen growth and change with the advent of new technologies, especially the Internet.
What is Copyright?
Original material is protected by copyright upon its creation and the creator has exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the work, as well as the right to create other works derived from the original. The material must be “in a fixed tangible medium and be original.” The idea of what is in a fixed tangible form is under question when it comes to the Internet. Some of the key questions that are circulating in regards to the Internet and copyright are as follows:
All of these issues will become more and more important as time goes on and the Internet grows. The ease with which copyrighted image, words, and media can be copied and used on another site is alarming. The wide audience that the Internet has allows for others to get around copyright laws and not realize when information they are using is copyrighted, thus losing funds for the owner of the copyright. Eventually these issues will need to be addressed by the Supreme Court or other larger body of legislature.
Current Legislation
One of the major acts of legislation regarding Internet copyright is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. The act implements two treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Specifically, the DMCA:
Liability Issues
The DMCA begins to address the issues of liability when it comes to consumer's Internet Service Providers (ISP). The basic question is, are the online service providers liable for copyright infringement by their users? Three cases have been brought to court about this; two courts have found the ISP liable, while the other did not. The difference in the cases was whether the provider had prior knowledge of the copyright infringement; since the ISP knew about the incident and did nothing to stop it, the court found the ISP liable.
This same idea of liability comes into play with a recent case that is still in litigation. Viacom is currently suing Viacom and YouTube couldn’t come to an agreement about splitting revenues and allowing YouTube to host Viacom’s material. YouTube was asked to remove over 100,000 unauthorized clips. Viacom then charged YouTube with copyright infringement and inducing its users to copyright infringement. Viacom can take YouTube as a whole to court and not each individual user because the videos are on YouTube’s servers and not saved on each individual hard drive.
Another large issue regarding Internet copyright is pirated textbooks at university presses. Sales at university presses have gone down over the past few years, mostly in textbooks. The most worrisome aspect for presses is the fact that their books can be found in pirated online versions. University presses are currently working to catch up to the pirates to make texts available online for a fixed fee or similar way of distribution. It is projected that as textbook prices rise, so will the rate of students turning to online texts instead of the actual bound copies. At the University of Texas at Austin, an experiment will be underway next semester to shift entire classes to the exclusive use of e-books.
After issues such as music copyright infringement and the more recent issues of video on YouTube and e-books, corporations that hold copyrights on this popular material have found ways to make their products and services available online for their own benefit. Programs such as iTunes allows for the purchase of music and videos; and sites like Hulu allow for the free viewing of television and movies with the occasional interruption for an advertisement. Companies are adapting to the changes in technology to make sure that their products are protected.
Overall, copyrighted materials are becoming easier and easier to access. If the owners of these copyrights are not receiving the revenue from their work, in most cases, someone is losing out on their form of income. The process of having materials available for purchase online is the best possible solution for preventing easy copyright infringements. In the case of textbooks and music especially, these materials are a for-profit business and if Internet users are accessing them for free, people are being denied their income from their products. Providing easy access while still protecting copyright will need to become the norm for copyright-protected creative works.
Sources
"Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials." University of Texas. March 2005. <http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm#top>.
Guess, Andy. "E-Textbooks for All." Inside Higher Ed 7 Oct 2008.15 Oct 2008. <http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/10/07/ut>.
Howard, Jennifer. "Textbook Sales Drop, and University Presses Search for Reasons." Chronicle of Higher Education 19 Sept 2008. 6 Oct 2008. <http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i04/04a01002.htm>.
Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris. "New Communication Technologies." Communication and the Law. Ed. W. Wat Hopkins. Alabama: Vision Press, 2008.
Ottaviani, John and Glenn G. Pudelka. "YouTube Lawsuit Raises Novel Internet Copyright Issues." The Licensing Journal. (October 2007): 9-14.
Young, Jeffrey. "Students Flock to Web Sites Offering Pirated Textbooks." Chronicle of Higher Education 4 Sept 2008. 6 Oct 2008. <http://chronicle.com/free/2008/09/4477n.htm>.
By: Elizabeth Cole
Ethnography Abstract
This ethnography looks at how the growth of the Internet has allowed for easier infringement of copyright laws. All different mediums of entertainment are available online, and companies have answered instances of copyright infringement with lawsuits or their own money-making form of their product available online. The ease with which infringements can happen has also caused governments s to adapt and change their own copyright regulations. The DMCA and the World Intellectual Property Organization have enacted laws to protect copyrights across international borders. As the Internet continues to grow and change, copyright infringement will be a major issue because of how easy these infringements can be.
The Internet allows for countless amounts of information to be shared and shown around the world. As the Internet grows, so do instances of copyright infringement. Copyright law has been a part of United States law since 1790, but has seen growth and change with the advent of new technologies, especially the Internet.
What is Copyright?
Original material is protected by copyright upon its creation and the creator has exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the work, as well as the right to create other works derived from the original. The material must be “in a fixed tangible medium and be original.” The idea of what is in a fixed tangible form is under question when it comes to the Internet. Some of the key questions that are circulating in regards to the Internet and copyright are as follows:
- If something is copied and put on the Internet, is the online copy an original?
- If something created electronically in a fixed and tangible medium?
- If something is created on a computer and the sent over the Internet and not saved on the computer, is that material protected?
All of these issues will become more and more important as time goes on and the Internet grows. The ease with which copyrighted image, words, and media can be copied and used on another site is alarming. The wide audience that the Internet has allows for others to get around copyright laws and not realize when information they are using is copyrighted, thus losing funds for the owner of the copyright. Eventually these issues will need to be addressed by the Supreme Court or other larger body of legislature.
Current Legislation
One of the major acts of legislation regarding Internet copyright is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. The act implements two treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Specifically, the DMCA:
- Criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted works
- Criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, whether or not there is actual infringement of copyright itself
- Heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet
- Limits the liability of ISP’s for copyright infringement by their users
Liability Issues
The DMCA begins to address the issues of liability when it comes to consumer's Internet Service Providers (ISP). The basic question is, are the online service providers liable for copyright infringement by their users? Three cases have been brought to court about this; two courts have found the ISP liable, while the other did not. The difference in the cases was whether the provider had prior knowledge of the copyright infringement; since the ISP knew about the incident and did nothing to stop it, the court found the ISP liable.
This same idea of liability comes into play with a recent case that is still in litigation. Viacom is currently suing Viacom and YouTube couldn’t come to an agreement about splitting revenues and allowing YouTube to host Viacom’s material. YouTube was asked to remove over 100,000 unauthorized clips. Viacom then charged YouTube with copyright infringement and inducing its users to copyright infringement. Viacom can take YouTube as a whole to court and not each individual user because the videos are on YouTube’s servers and not saved on each individual hard drive.
Another large issue regarding Internet copyright is pirated textbooks at university presses. Sales at university presses have gone down over the past few years, mostly in textbooks. The most worrisome aspect for presses is the fact that their books can be found in pirated online versions. University presses are currently working to catch up to the pirates to make texts available online for a fixed fee or similar way of distribution. It is projected that as textbook prices rise, so will the rate of students turning to online texts instead of the actual bound copies. At the University of Texas at Austin, an experiment will be underway next semester to shift entire classes to the exclusive use of e-books.
After issues such as music copyright infringement and the more recent issues of video on YouTube and e-books, corporations that hold copyrights on this popular material have found ways to make their products and services available online for their own benefit. Programs such as iTunes allows for the purchase of music and videos; and sites like Hulu allow for the free viewing of television and movies with the occasional interruption for an advertisement. Companies are adapting to the changes in technology to make sure that their products are protected.
Overall, copyrighted materials are becoming easier and easier to access. If the owners of these copyrights are not receiving the revenue from their work, in most cases, someone is losing out on their form of income. The process of having materials available for purchase online is the best possible solution for preventing easy copyright infringements. In the case of textbooks and music especially, these materials are a for-profit business and if Internet users are accessing them for free, people are being denied their income from their products. Providing easy access while still protecting copyright will need to become the norm for copyright-protected creative works.
Sources
"Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials." University of Texas. March 2005. <http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm#top>.
Guess, Andy. "E-Textbooks for All." Inside Higher Ed 7 Oct 2008.15 Oct 2008. <http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/10/07/ut>.
Howard, Jennifer. "Textbook Sales Drop, and University Presses Search for Reasons." Chronicle of Higher Education 19 Sept 2008. 6 Oct 2008. <http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i04/04a01002.htm>.
Lipschultz, Jeremy Harris. "New Communication Technologies." Communication and the Law. Ed. W. Wat Hopkins. Alabama: Vision Press, 2008.
Ottaviani, John and Glenn G. Pudelka. "YouTube Lawsuit Raises Novel Internet Copyright Issues." The Licensing Journal. (October 2007): 9-14.
Young, Jeffrey. "Students Flock to Web Sites Offering Pirated Textbooks." Chronicle of Higher Education 4 Sept 2008. 6 Oct 2008. <http://chronicle.com/free/2008/09/4477n.htm>.
|
eccole |
Latest page update: made by eccole
, Dec 13 2008, 9:25 PM EST
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by eccole
199 words added 6 words deleted view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
None
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
