Copyright vs. the Right to Copy Essay -- Computers Technology Internet

Copyright vs. the Right to Copy Today's digital technology and the computer have changed how the average consumer can acquire information and entertainment. No longer do we have to wait for the CD to hear a new song, or the release date to watch a movie. The technology is available on our home computers. But is this an infringement on copyright? What about the rights of artists, authors, producers, or actors? Has our technology progressed so far that it infringes on these peoples' livings? It is only a matter of time before laws are passed regarding Internet use. Are we ready to give up the freedom we have had up to this point? In her essay "The Digital Rights War", Pamela Samuelson states that " The new future of technically protected information is so far from the ordinary person's experience that few of us have any clue about what is at stake". (Samuelson 316) With today's technology consumers can download almost anything from their computer and copy it onto a CD Rom or to an MP3 player. Pirated copies of songs from CDs that are not yet released or movies that are still in the theaters are put on the Internet available for anyone to use or copy. These are extreme examples of the problem at hand. What lengths do we need to go to in protecting artists' rights? Pirating is nothing new. When I was in high school bootleg copies of concerts were available to buy on cassette. There will always be some people that don't follow the law, and even if we tighten up current copyrighting laws those people will find a way around them. The average consumer may download songs or articles from the Internet, but they do not distribute them or reproduce them. If they do reproduce them it is usually for personal use. The MP3 player that ... ...May 7, 2000. http://www.mp3.com Napster.com. "Information about Metallica's Request to Disable Napster Users." Napster Home Page. 1999-2000. May 7, 2000. http://www.napster.com RIAA. "Copyright Basics", "Napster Lawsuit Q & A." Recording Industry Association of America Home Page. May 7, 2000. http://www.riaa.com Samuelson, Pamela. "The Digital Rights War." The Presence of Others. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000. 315-321. U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. "The Digital Millennium copyright Act of 1998." December, 1998. May 7, 2000. http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ White House Information Infrastructure Task Force. " Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure:" U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 1995. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/doc/ipnii/execsum.html