Copyright Law In Cyberspacce

9 Pages 2264 Words

Copyright Law in Cyberspace

In the age of computers, copyrighted material has been widely abused. Most of copyright law was formulated in terms of books, audiovisual works, and sound recordings. Changing technology has led to an expanding understanding of the word "writings". The Copyright Act now reaches architectural design, software, the graphic arts, motion pictures, and sound recordings. While the basic principles of copyright law are the same for all media, it is not yet clear how some of these principles apply to the Internet. The Internet has opened up a gate to virtually unlimited copyright piracy.
“The origin of copyright law lies more in the experiences with information and with print that occurred in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries than in an agreed-upon set of ideas about copying” (Katsh 225). The Constitution states: The Congress shall have power to promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. The Constitution gives Congress the power to enact laws establishing a system of copyright in the United States (Article I, Section 8, and U.S. Constitution). The first area of copyright infringement to be discussed is book piracy.
In an age when manuscripts circulate in digital form and scanners can swiftly convert hard copy into material that can be emailed, books then are clearly vulnerable to piracy. “Many of the pirates are college students and teenagers, who are part of a movement that believes that the Internet differs from the established commercial marketplace. In one respect they are right: the Internet is a unique marketplace” (Paradise 231). As anyone who is connected to the Internet knows, the Internet suggests that a new, disquieting era for the publishing world may be in sight. This came about with the wide range of online learning courses being offered from many of...