With the rise in technology, younger people have become owners of personal computers making the peer-to-peer file sharing problem more prevalent in the online community. Although peer-to-peer file sharing is a infringement on copyright laws it is not a significant problem. In Lessig’s “Remix” article, he says “we are in the middle of something of a war…the copyright wars” and the focus is not on the “creators,” it is on “the pirates.” I agree with Lessig in that we must end this war because we can’t kill creativity, however, we cannot forget the battle of copyright laws. It is a battle we cannot win because of the vastness of the internet, but if we do give due to the laws that support artist creativity, then their will be no original productions from these creators to encourage remix’s coming from artists such as Girl Talk. Without the strict enforcement of copyright laws there is no incentive for artists. Lessig is correct when he supports “amateur creativity.” Some copyright laws apply to cases that have no significant harm to the artist such as the example of the YouTube video with Prince playing in the background. This is why I believe that although copyright laws should be strictly enforces, they should not be handles by the major corporations such as Universal or Virgin that create these copyright laws. This makes it an unfair advantage to the individual or “amateur” producers. In addition, peer-to-peer file sharing is illegal but it also helps these “amateur” artists. It is an easy way to bypass the system. Also, file sharing is a step towards the recreation of the “commons.” The only disadvantage of this goes towards the corporations who will profit, holders of copyright laws, from individual property.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Remix Copyright
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2 comments:
First and foremost, I must state my complete agreement with the sentiment that major music producers should not be involved with the establishment and regulation of copyright laws. Such entities regularly effect an inordinate amount of influence upon Washington, operating through the machinations of lobbyists pursuing an agenda built for the few. I disagree, however, with the claim that the sheer scope of the internet prevents victory in the battle for the preservation of copyright laws. The continued use of present methodologies will not produce any significantly better results – a complete re-conception of the issue at hand is mandatory. Current measures seek to exact punishment against the perpetrators guilty of piracy and intellectual property theft. Such negative reinforcement is minimally effective. In order to truly sway the minds and hearts of the people, a system of incentives for proper behavior ought to be implemented. For example, purchasing albums from iTunes could allow the purchaser access to special sales and promotions from Apple or the music distributor. Certain bands have taken the fight against copyright violation to the cutting frontline, by placing their very futures in the hands of their fans. Radiohead released their seventh album In Rainbows on their website, allowing consumers to set the price they wished to pay for the music from zero to the desired price. The band felt that such a pricing scheme would prove to be an interesting experiment, compelling people to spend a few moments pondering the value of music. This mechanism proved successful, as digital profits from this album exceeded the combined digital profits of all of Radiohead's previous works. This experiment is a testament to the claim that winning the war against piracy merely requires ingenuity and innovation.
Yes it is true that "we are now in the middle of something of a war...the copyright wars". This problem becomes the unsolved as we are prone in the online community. It's become a trend on the peer-to-peer file sharing; people simply can download and share any files among their friends. This situation seems like common to the communities. No one take action on protecting the copyright laws. The victims here are the creator-singer, artists, producer and so forth. They do not get paid back for their hard works and sickness on creating something new and valuable. This war is indirectly kill the creativity of the generation, no new ideas invent and no originality of the production. As to produce the best creation the originality and creativity are very important. We do not have to 'steal' one idea just to make it better. What if we create something new and cool based on our own idea?
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