Copyright Issues in the Digital Age

Abstract

Copyright issues during recent years have grown to become an increasingly major

problem. The introduction of the Internet as well as the technological transformation

into the digital era has proved problematic for issues concerning copyright.

Distributors remain deeply protective of the creative artworks protected under these

laws, while users and community groups lobby for keeping the ability to use

copyrighted art in fair use circumstances. During recent years, laws and protective

agencies have been established to help control these issues, however, the problem of

illegal copyright remains unresolved and not only does awareness need to be

implemented across education institutions and the general public, but new solutions

need to be thought about for this ever increasing cycle of copyright.

Copyright, in its first form, was first introduced in 1710 with a British statute of Anne. Since this time copyright laws have changed to remain current, and have grown into an international agreement by many countries around the globe.

Copyright is not a natural process; it is essentially an agreement between the state and an artist, where the state gives the artist a monopoly on works they make for a certain time in hopes that this artist will continue to create more works. This agreement is beneficial for all parties; the artist gets money for their work (as no one is allowed to produce copies unless granted permission) and an incentive to create new works. The state has artisans to keep the public happy.

The Statute of Anne (the first modern form of copyright law) was introduced after the printing press was invented. Before this time, books would have to be hand written and for this reason they were ve...

... middle of paper ...

...ks) each user connects to another user, only using a server to find other users.

Portable music device - a device for listening to digital media such as mp3s that can be easily transported on a person.

Public domain - after a copyright on a work runs out it passes into the public domain, where everyone and no one owns the work.

Software - the programs or language that controls the functioning of the hardware. Table of contents - a section on a CD that lists the locations of files to help a computer locate data.

Uncrippled media - media that doesn’t use any form of copy protection or encryption. Video Home System (VHS) - a format that records analogue video on a cassette. Web browser - a program created to view pages on the World Wide Web World Wide Web (WWW) - a part of the Internet which allows for viewing of text, images, video and other media at once.