I am going to explain in an article below the issue on copyright law and if it aids or destroys creativity. I will touch on the issue on the affect of copyright law to producers filmmakers and professionals within the media industry and the affect it has on consumers and the direct industry as a whole. I will also give my personal opinion on the matter
During this assignment we have bee discussing the controversial issue of copyright law in the media industry and general Law that we have in society today. Copyright is a law that allows the owner and creator of a product or piece of work to have rights to the product to prevent others from copying and making profit of another persons work.
- Copyright Law Definition ( Exact Definition Sourced from Wikipedia -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright)
Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country, that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator (e.g. the photographer of a photograph or the author of a book) to receive compensation for their intellectual effort.
The Different Methods used in copyright?
Before I can explain the effects of copyright law on the industry I feel it would be very important that I explain what the different methods used in copyright Law to steal others original work. The term for stealing and counterfeiting somebody else’s work is called Pirating and this can range from pirating movies, music, software and games and can be done in a range of different ways which is done digitally from individuals uploading films and music and software online for others to download and physically where individuals will put others work on dvds and cds and sell them physically to the public to make profit cutting out the original creators of the work.
- Good Copy Bad Copy (documentary)
The link below is a documentary called good copy bad copy which I have watched and has enabled me to widen my opinion on the matter of how copyright law aids and destroys creativity.
Does Copyright Aid Creativity ?
After watching the documentary it would be sensible to say that although copyright is a crime and can ruin the music and media industry as a whole it is actually helping the industry at the same time. We live in a society today where a lot of people may not have the money or opportunity to buy music and media products and pirating and the upload of artist music to online sharing sites such as “pirate bay” helps to promote the artists and filmmakers to a potential million people who can become a new fan base who In the future can potentially purchase the artist’s music. we have a new culture of young up and coming dj’s who sample music and remix music from established artists and make cd’s and new music of the artist without the owners permission and in a sense it is wrong as the artist may loose out on money and would not want his music to be sampled by someone else but at the same time it could be a beneficial thing to happen as it can help to promote the artists music to a new audience who may not listen to the artists original sound and it also helps as these young and up and coming dj’s are music enthusiasts and want to make good music and in a sense have the good intention of aiding the music industry. There Is a underground world of an audience of people who may not follow the general media and watch the television or listen to the radio which restricts them to the access to the music channels and radio channels, but if they visit file sharing sites such as pirate bay or buy the music pirated from a market store it may introduce them to a new sound or artist they may never of heard of and this will possibly bring revenue back to the artist in the future If the new fan decides to attend the music artist’s concerts and buy his future albums from the correct and legal music stores and iTunes which is a result of the pirate industry and copyright law being breached introducing this new fan to the artist and this can be repeated for up to a million new people worldwide.
Does Copyright Destroy Creativity ?
Again from watching the documentary its safe to say that the pirate industry as a whole is a big business and there is a huge margin of profit being made that is unseen to the filmmakers and music artists who are creating good pieces of work for the industry. the pirate industry is being distributed via pirate dvd’s, online file sharing sites such as “pirate bay” and even artists music being samples id having an affect on the industry as the film and music companies are loosing out on revenue which allows them to sign the artists and pay overhead costs which are relevant for the artist and company to thrive in the industry as after all the music and film industry is still a business and if the public buy the films and music of someone else or do not buy at all because they listened or watched the film for free it would mean the company or artist make no money at all for their hard work which could make the film or artist a flop in the industry due to low sales which could discontinue the artist or film company which is a big affect to the film industry which we are seeing today. After watching the “good copy bad copy” documentary we can see the scale is international with this problem as in the documentary even in the rough neighborhoods of Nigeria there are people selling pirate Dvd’s of major films to an audience of people in the large populated area’s which is a big revenue loss for the music industry.
My Opinion On Copyright law Destroy Or Aid Creativity
My opinion on the matter of if copyright law aids or destroys creativity is that I believe that it personally aids the music and film industry more than people expect, the reason why I say this is because as mentioned above a lot of people may be at a point in their live where they may not have the money or access any other way to listen to or view the media from the music company or film company. if the persons circumstance changes in the future they may buy the music or attend a music show creted by the artist. The reason why I have this strong opinion is because myself has been through this experience in the past where I have had to pirate movies or music due to not having the money and access to file sharing sites but as I have gotten older and have put myself in a better position I purchase the music or films to support the artist or music industry. Although there is a loss of profit and revenue for the film and music company’s there is a gain in audience attention and awareness which is more than their advertisement campaigns could possibly bring to them and this is something I believe needs to come into awareness in the industry as a whole.
