Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Reflecting on Copyright

In today's technological world, information is just a copy and paste away for millions of computer users. We have lost the definition of copyright as we can download music, art, movies and more on our personal computers. We need to be reminded of the copyright laws and be respectful of them as the consequences can be quite severe. Copyright is a form of protection for people who are authors of orignal work. The Copyright Act of 1976 provides the basic foundation for the current copyright law. It protects the rights of those who author orginal works such as literary, musical, artistic and other intellectual works. This means that limewire.com, movies-for-free.com and other shareware websites are illegally allowing people to download items that are protected by the copyright laws. So, where do we draw the line on what is truly illegal and what is legal?

For teachers and media specials, this brochure is a great resource to help clear up the cloudy air surrounding copyrights: http://www.knowyourcopyrights.org/bm~doc/kycrbrochure.pdf



For students and teachers checkout this interactive site that explains copyrights: http://www.loc.gov/teachers/copyrightmystery/#

4 comments:

Lorena said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lorena said...

Let's try this again!! The brochure is fantastic! I've made a copy for my own reference and may take one to work. We have no form of guidelines there, so I think it would make a nice, simple reference. The videos are great too. The catchy graphics and music would really make it useful to show kids the basics. Thanks for linking to both!

Steph Herfel said...

Lori,

I agree with Lorena the ARL brochure you provided here is a useful guide to avoid copyright infringement. Everyone should check it out. Until I starting my blog, I didn't realize now many great websites provide useful copyright and fair use information. It would be hard to claim ignorance to copyright law after completing this project! Thanks for the links!

Steve Gallick said...

Everyone should be protected by copyright laws, but it has become easier and easier to find and download songs and movies that the original artists are not receiving any financial gains from. Let's face it - few people are going to face punishment for illegally downloading Internet content. People sometimes forget that not every artist is super-rich and isn't really affected by illegal downloads. Many bands don't take private jets to their shows - they drive beat-up vans across the country to get to their gigs, hoping for their big break. Unfortunately for them, they are depending on a music industry that has been adversely affected by websites like Napster and Limewire in the last decade.