Copyright Presentation

During class yesterday, Diane Graves visited to give us an interesting copyright presentation. She told us how easy it is to violate copyright laws and how few people on campus really know what the laws entail. The first copyright laws, which date back to the 18th century, were established to give authors the right to hold limited rights on their published works. Though one of their many intentions for the new laws was to spark innovation and invention, many people abused the system and violated the laws without really understanding the consequences. In recent years, organizations like the RIAA, MPAA, and ESA have been cracking down on college students for stealing music and movies off of the internet. Through file sharing computer programs, students have been able to easily download entire movies and popular songs without having to pay a cent for the works. Many students, however, feel that they aren’t doing much harm by downloading free entertainment. In my opinion, I lean more towards the side of keeping free file sharing programs in existence. Though I don’t participate in it and it is stealing, there is evidence that it has inspired more people to attend a singer’s concert or an actor’s movie because it gives the user a chance to listen to or watch an artist’s work.