Isn’t it long overdue that we stop pretending copyright doesn’t affect us? There are many aspects behind intellectual property that the general public might feign ignorance toward – nobody is an exemption to the law. It’s time for standard practices within the arena of copyright to be categorized as common sense.
If you’ve ever heard someone say, “It doesn’t have a copyright notice, it doesn’t affect me,” you’re probably consorting with the wrong type of company. While this might have been an appropriate grey area to skate through in the past, things have long since changed. Most countries operate on the basis of the Berne copyright convention; virtually everything independently created now is protected with or without a notice. Don’t play with fire, folks.
Some people maintain copyright amnesty applies to them if they don’t charge for the product or service – an inherently flawed line of thinking. A copyright violation is a copyright violation; the only aspect your personal earnings affect regard the damages you might later be charged in a legal setting. This is the equivalent of uploading pirated movies and music to the web, a practice that copyright wielders have traditionally fought tooth and nail.
Liberal use of copyright often is a matter of perspective – some people believe their postings were warranted under ‘fair use’, a certain exemption to copyright law in the US. This portion of the law was designed to permit things like commentary, news reporting and education without the author’s permission; it is not a free pass to appropriate another’s work and risk damages.
It’s time to start applying common sense in dealing with intellectual property, especially as the world grows increasingly connected to the digital side of things. Copyright can be a powerful tool provided we wield a proper understanding of its principles.
A Little Common Sense
Isn’t it long overdue that we stop pretending copyright doesn’t affect us? There are many aspects behind intellectual property that the general public might feign ignorance toward – nobody is an exemption to the law. It’s time for standard practices within the arena of copyright to be categorized as common sense.
If you’ve ever heard someone say, “It doesn’t have a copyright notice, it doesn’t affect me,” you’re probably consorting with the wrong type of company. While this might have been an appropriate grey area to skate through in the past, things have long since changed. Most countries operate on the basis of the Berne copyright convention; virtually everything independently created now is protected with or without a notice. Don’t play with fire, folks.
Some people maintain copyright amnesty applies to them if they don’t charge for the product or service – an inherently flawed line of thinking. A copyright violation is a copyright violation; the only aspect your personal earnings affect regard the damages you might later be charged in a legal setting. This is the equivalent of uploading pirated movies and music to the web, a practice that copyright wielders have traditionally fought tooth and nail.
Liberal use of copyright often is a matter of perspective – some people believe their postings were warranted under ‘fair use’, a certain exemption to copyright law in the US. This portion of the law was designed to permit things like commentary, news reporting and education without the author’s permission; it is not a free pass to appropriate another’s work and risk damages.
It’s time to start applying common sense in dealing with intellectual property, especially as the world grows increasingly connected to the digital side of things. Copyright can be a powerful tool provided we wield a proper understanding of its principles.