Copyright Infringement
By: Brennan, Bunmi, Amy, & Mirrie
What is Copyright Infringement?
• The illegal act of
unauthorized use of
material covered by
copyright laws
• Owners of
copyrighted
material have rights
to the reproduction
and distribution of
the work
Piracy
• Piracy is the unauthorized reproduction
and distribution of electronic and audiovisual work
• It is nowadays the most commonly
violated form of Copyright infringement
• Internet is making it extremely easy to
illegally share music in the form of MP3s
• Movies are often ripped from DVDs or are
filmed with camcorders in movie theaters
Background on Copyright
• Piracy was first mentioned in 1703 by
David
• In 1976 the copyright laws were changed
to encompass those copyrighting for nonprofit reasons
• Copyright infringement became a recent
issue because of the development of
Napster and other file sharing systems
Copyright Criticisms
• Issue of whether certain ideas are
legitimately owned
• Some corporate interests use copyright
laws to create unfair advantages in the
market place
• Copyright laws make it harder for pair to
pair file sharing for example: music,
documents and movies
Steps in the Right Direction
1. International cooperation between countries
to better enforce copyright laws
2. Technological advances making piracy more
difficult
Our Opinion On Copyright
Infringement
Due to the lack of inexpensive ways to
obtain copyrighted materials, there are
copious amounts of copyright
infringement. If there were cheaper
options available it would greatly reduce
the amount of illegal activity. We feel that
though the copyright laws are valid, the
punishments for violating the copyright
laws are too harsh.