Purpose of copyright - Essay Example

Purpose of copyright Introduction Today, most people see copyright laws as a form of restricting what individuals can do with other’s creative work.It is understandable that copying the work of another creative expert and terming it as own is illegal. Bodies that regulate the usage and protection of an artist’s work use copyright laws to ensure safety of these artist’s work (Macmillan, 2005:54). Therefore, a copyright is an exclusive right, an official document, a government grant, a patent, or a right used by the regulation bodies to safeguard the intellectual work of an artist. In this case, the word artist covers a broad range of creative groups, which include musicians, authors, producers, and broadcasters, and performers among many others (Nadel, 2004:785). The purposes of copyright are many and they help develop the aspect of coming up with new ideas, actions, and implementations (Gervais, 2005:315). This paper intends to discuss the purpose of copyright by describing some key issues in regards to things including but not limited to income, ownership, and 'the public domain' among others. Copyright helps generate income and feeds the society with new creations One of the primary aims of 'copyright' is to ensure society is rich with creative works. Without copyright, those who create different works would not create new works. When the government or the supposed agency provides laws that regulate the use of an artist’s work, it becomes easier and mandatory for any other potential author, musician, or producer to come up with his or her creation (Nadel, 2004:790). This ensures that the society continues to receive new creative works purposefully because a writer has no claim over other’s personal creation. Profoundly, the society gets to enjoy fresh talent in terms of music creation, production, broadcasting, and writing since there are laws, which govern, regulate, and protect previous work done by somebody else (Collins, 2010:4). This makes it hard for the interested author, scholar, or any type of artist to take someone else work and claim it as own (Netanel, 1996:5). The copyright law has a purpose of promoting the progress of substantial science and arts by safeguarding the exclusive rights of the author and the patent ownership of an inventor (Seville, 2006:22). According to the stipulations set out by the copyright agencies, this aspect of protecting the patent rights of an inventor or author helps creators of certain works benefit from their authorship works (Collins, 2010:5). Pertinently, this helps the author or the inventor benefit financially from his or her creative work. An author is therefore to maintain his or her daily activities mainly because he or she is receiving benefits from his creative work. Musicians, actors, and producers, for instance, pocket substantial amounts of financial gains frequently majorly from their creative works (Nadel, 2004:796). Musicians are able to perform their own songs in different functions where they receive money in exchange for entertainment through their works of creation. With reference to the contemporary world, entertainers are taking over the world of riches by being the most paid individuals on the planet. The US Copyright Act (1976) indicates that copyright protects all creative works including but not limited to unpublished work, which is in a tangible form, published works, and work kept in a record form among others (Macmillan, 2005:77). This means that, even writers whose works are in a tangible and fixed state are able to receive protection from the copyright law. In the United States as well as in many other countries, the federal government or any other responsible arm of the government regulates the copyright law by registering all the copyrighted works via the Official Copyright Agency (Netanel, 1996:8). It also ensures regulation of the copyright law by enforcing copyright laws in the court of law. Maintaining the works of an artist by keeping original and owned by the same particular artist at all times facilitates that artist’s ability to receive all the financial benefits that come along with his creative works. Such ability increases or maintains continuous income from creative works (Seville, 2006:41). This is in turn makes it possible and easier for the same artist to continue composing new creative works hence filling the society with new ideas and actions. Subsequently, with an artist knowing that their work is safe due to the presence of copyright laws, he or she feel motivated to come up with new creations so that they can continue enjoying financial returns from their works and continue providing the society with fresh creative works (Gervais, 2005:323). In most cases, copyright infringement is the commonly litigated issue in today’s world. People file disputes concerning the infringement of any restricted right fixed under patent law, which include copying a work in federal courts mainly because of Federal Preemption (Atkinson, 2007:60). Since the copyright law safeguards musical, graphic, and literary, among other artistic works in which a creator or an author utters intellectual concepts, the community is always receiving new creations (Nadel, 2004:801). Within the context set herein by the copyright decree, an author is simply a person who creates any particular copyrightable creation. Agreeably, authors would not find it necessary to come up with new creations without the presence of copyrights and its laws (Cohen, 2011:3). Therefore, the work of an author that meets the set standards by the copyright edict is protectable and considered as authorship work under the copyright law (Barrett, 2008:46). According to the stipulations set by the copyright law, fixation and originality are the major requirements of for an author’s work to meet the expected standards of copyright law. As such, in order for authors to continue enjoying the financial benefits from their work, they must ensure originality and fixation in any of their creations (Zhao, 2011:61). A large number of individuals view copyright decree as a restriction towards what they can perform on someone else’s creations. Definitely, this is not the case. Copyright makes that, in addition to maintaining originality and fixation among artists’, the community gets new creations (Collins, 2010:7). The availability of copyright and its related rights helps in protecting the patent rights of broadcasters, authors, and performers as well as producers. Prospects of copyright maintain that, copyright contributes to a nation’s economic development on one end, and facilitates cultural growth in a society (Atkinson, 2007:81). Looking at countries which have the greatest number of musicians like the United States, artists otherwise termed as entertainers contribute to a huge amount of income every year (Seville, 2006:55). This helps in increasing the country’s economic development since their financial benefits generate employment, income, and other sorts of support to many other individuals. Based on that concept, artistic works helps in cultural growth (Gervais, 2005:330). In some countries, artists identify themselves with their creations, an aspect that brings along the growth of culture among such people. Copyright maintains the ownership of work Presence of copyright laws makes it hard for any interested individual to just copy the works of another author, performer, or a broadcaster and claim it as own. The United States copyright law deters people from copying someone else’s work and claiming it to be theirs and whenever somebody falls as a victim of such a thing, he or she is punishable by law (Nadel, 2004:809). Copyright protection applies to published and unpublished works as well. A copyright board helps establish fair use of intellectual properties of authors and other creators. The concept of copyright intensified when technological and related abilities started posing serious challenges on the ownership of a creator’s work. As of today, some people claiming to be able writers tend to access other authors’ works and try to alter just a few things then term that work as their own (Macmillan, 2005:98). In addition, due to technological advancement, the market is full of gadgets capable of accessing other authors’ works (Barrett, 2008:70). With this respect, it becomes easy for music or movie pirates to access and possess other producers or performers’ works and make financial gains as if it was personal. As the idea of promotion continues to appear more diversified by the aspect of technology, originality and ownership are facing challenges (Seville, 2006:64). However, due to intensified copyright laws, there are strict copyright laws that turn the lives of those found guilty of piracy a living nightmare. Such copyright rules are making the aspect of ownership continue to enjoy its rightful position in the artistic sector as well as enduring there is initiation and implementation of new platforms suitable for making the society continue to enjoy fresh creative talent (Nadel, 2004:814). Copyright protects the ownership of an artist’s creative works, which in turn helps the artist continue benefiting solely from his or her creative works. Furthermore, it helps artists proceed to provide the society with new ideas hence keep it rich with creative works (Atkinson, 2007:112). Without copyright, not even a single artist would claim certain work to his or her own in any way since everybody would be an artist. Absence of copyright in the artisan’s sector would be the same as a country without a constitution. Presence of laws in any area of jurisdiction helps maintain peace and liberty (Macmillan, 2005:121). Similarly, presence of copyright and its related rights helps manage the ownership of creative works with reference to the original creator (Hobbs, 2010:48). Protected ownership ensures that the artist continues to enjoy the benefit of his or her creative works even at times when the product is no longer within the reach of the artist. Copyright laws make it easier for an artist to find his or her work beneficial by providing financial returns, creation fame, and exposing the artist to new opportunities (Netanel, 1996:10). Nevertheless, the presence of technological advancement is making the reproduction of original and fixated works easier, faster, and cheaper, it is high time that the society in association with the copyright laws transformed into accommodating long-term ownership of intellectual property (Gervais, 2005:338). At the foundation of the current debates with regard to ownership is the radical movement from the notion of limited or restricted right of an artist to his creative works to the aspect of long-term ownership of the same work (Cohen, 2011:7). Scholars, educators, and librarians as well as any other persons who choose to look for inexpensive and easy access to every form of information are finding access to that information more restricted (Nadel, 2004:822). This is so because, as reproductive related technologies spurred from type to digital, publishers started demanding greater and intensified protection of their intellectual, exclusive rights. As of now, this is what they are calling “safeguard of intellectual property” (Seville, 2006:77). Surprisingly, the current copyright regulations are accommodating certain measures in order to see the society have profound access to artistic works. With technology, the public can access authors’ works despite geographical distance. Note that, by describing “other measures” of easing access to creative works, this paper does not imply to piracy (Barrett, 2008:89). The intension of that phrase is to point out that the key element in the copyright laws that protect any author’s original work allows for publication of works for fun purposes or commercial purposes as well (Gervais, 2005:347). This move aims at encouraging creative acts through the advancements in technology. These new technological ways of preserving information are fast, reliable, and this enhances the fast spread of works done by artists from a far location. The reliability of the systems promotes the transfer of different forms of knowledge for the society’s enlightenment and therefore more authors and producers of different forms of knowledge rise (Nadel, 2004:830). Nonetheless, these technologies are also advancing the system of producing copyright work and therefore there is a need for the copyright methods to ensure they too adopt such new technologies for efficiency in their protection tasks (Zhao, 2011:80). The public domain issue According to a 1987 journal entitled Why Copyright Law Could Be Unimportant on the Internet, the issue of public domain poses a serious challenge towards protection of creative works. In fact, it gives rise to the need to have complex systems capable of maintaining the privacy of an individual’s creative works (Seville, 2006:86). Just as stated, without copyright, creators would never enjoy the ownership and benefits that result from creative works (Atkinson, 2007:120). Consequently, as the public sphere continues to intensify its ability to access protected works, it is becoming risky for copyright to ensure safety of ownership of creative works. The copyright law implemented in the constitutional rights help enhance progress in science by encouraging inventions (Macmillan, 2005:135). Creativity enables people to benefit from their works, and this encourages others to produce their own creative works enabling them to gain financial stability hence improves their living standards. Finances obtained from the sale of artistic works create room for further investments, which in turn promotes further creativity and distribution of the creative acts within the society. The public domain provides a substantial scope for intellectual protection of property (Gervais, 2005:356). At the same time, it brings about the facet of unleashing new ideas into the society. Following that feature, the society has copyright documentation for private management of intellectual property, which helps in the growth of artists or creation industries (Cohen, 2011:10). This leads to the establishment of diversified work that makes it a bit hard for copyright laws to cater for all productions. Indeed, the issue of public domain presents both challenging and encouraging effects as regards the purpose of copyright (Nadel, 2004:837). Public sphere of influence enhances the expression of culture through social media and other digital forms. It also enhances the preservation of historical heritage within social media where it becomes possible for people to pass it to other generations through retrievable forms (Zhao, 2011:106). Copyright agencies argue that, in order to ensure the achievement of constitution goals on, legislators have to consider the effects of their legislations to both the public and to the original producers and how much monopoly the public enjoys from the implementations (Nadel, 2004:843). According to the copyright law, an author enjoys protection for a period of three years within which one can claim copyright infringement. Once this period expires, the copyright officials have the mandate to release this work to the public and one cannot report claims of copyrights on their work (Barrett, 2008:111). As a result, if an individual pleads guilty of an infringement offence and has his case filled, he or she the owner of the work can sue the victim after three years (Cohen, 2011:14). In conclusion, copyright protection on any producers work starts right from the period an artist is able to present his work in a tangible and fixable form. This means that it includes creative works in the form of a hard copy, in recorded mediums or in soft copy or in any other patent form (Seville, 2006:102). Copyright enables authors, performers, producers, and other artists to benefit from financial gains obtained through the sale of their works. Copyright agencies should find it suitable to have copyright law protect original and fixated works for creativity and learning purposes (Nadel, 2004:856). The restrictions laid on copyright acts are particularly useful and enhance ownership of work and its protection to avoid other claims of ownership by other individuals. This enhances creativity in a society by individuals who strain to offer their best to the society (Atkinson, 2007:135). It is important to note that, copyright has a structural purpose of protecting the ownership of a creator’s intellectual property. Bibliography Atkinson, B., 2007. The true history of copyright: the Australian experience 1905-2005. Sydney: Sydney University Press. Barrett, M., 2008. Intellectual property. New York: Aspen Publishers. Cohen, J. E., 2011. Copyright as property in the post-industrial economy: A research Agenda. [Online] Available at http://www.law.georgetown.edu/faculty/faculty-webpages/julie-cohen/documents/upload/postindustrialeconomy.pdf [Accessed November, 9 2012]. Collins, S., 2010. Prosumerism and the Fair Use Defence. Journal of Consumer Culture, Vol.10, (1) pp. 4-7. Gervais, J. D., 2005. The Purpose of Copyright Law in Canada. University of Ottawa Law & Technology journal, 2(2), pp. 315-356. Hobbs, R., 2010. Copyright clarity: how fair use supports digital learning. Thousand Oaks: Calif, Corwin. Macmillan, F., 2005. New directions in copyright law. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Nadel, M. S., 2004. How Current Copyright Law Discourages Creative Output: The Overlooked Impact of Marketing. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 19(1), pp. 785-856. Netanel, N. W., 1996. Copyright and Democratic Civil Society. Yale L. J. 283, (106). Seville, C., 2006. The internationalization of copyright law: books, buccaneers and the black flag in the nineteenth century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Zhao, Y., 2011. Cyber law in Hong Kong. Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International. Read More