due regard for the feelings, wishes, rights, or traditions of others

Many issues revolving around digital content on the internet boil down to one’s use, misuse, or interpretation of the word “respect”.

Personal RightsBenefit to Society

Copyright protection is a balancing act of personal rights and benefit to society.

“A creative work – text, music, picture, software, etc. – is automatically protected by copyright from the moment it is created.”

Respect for creative works is compromised by the ease of distributing content on the internet.

http://responsiblenetizen.org

“For every song that is bought legally, in shops or online, around 20 songs are illegally downloaded…”

“PC software piracy rate rose for the second year in a row, from 38 percent to 41 percent...”

http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11751035&fsrc=RSS&source=login_payBarrier

http://global.bsa.org/globalpiracy2008/studies/studybrief.pdfce/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11751035&fsrc=RSS&source=login_payBarrier

Metallica filed a lawsuit against Napster in the US District Court, Central District of California, alleging that the company encourages piracy by enabling and allowing its users to trade copyrighted songs through its servers.

http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/04/35670

1. So you do not infringe on someone else’s copyright.

2. So no one infringes on your copyright.http://plagiarism.umf.maine.edu/copyright/care.html

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/837027

The Copyright act of 1976 enables:

“the fair use of copyrighted work, … for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.”

www.copyright.gov/

Considerations for determining fair use:

• Is the use intended for commercial or nonprofit

educational purposes?

• What is the nature of the copyrighted work?

• How much of the work in relation to the whole is being

used?

• What is the effect on the potential market for the work?

Along with the enormous benefits of the internet, comes the challenges of protecting digital works from copyright infringement.

Things to remember:• Respect others’ works as if they were your

own.• In the “gray areas” determine if fair use

provisions apply.• You should care about Copyright laws.