Copyright

 

While it is true that Napster gave online music a bad reputation for copyright infringment, online copyright issues are important to look at. If millions of Americans are afraid to enter credit card numbers online, then there is equal danger for musicians who put there lives work on the internet. Music piracy is an important issue, but we must not make it too big of an issue.

As soon as an individual writes or records a piece of music, that music is protected by law from other copying it. But if the work is sent into the government with the proper papers, it gets a copyright, which officializes the protection. But since it has become increasingly easy to pirate music with the invention consumer CD burners and Napster, an artist or label cannot monitor all of the uses of their music. The internet provides an even wider spectrum to monitor, making it nearly impossible to keep music from being pirated. The Recording Industry Association of America does some of the work for the artist, as it has turned itself from a grouping of record labels to a full-fledged anti-piracy group. But still, millions of pirated songs are downloaded each day.

But is Napster sharing really violating copyright. No one makes any money, and there is nothing illeagal about sharing a CD with a friend, or even making a tape for a friend. The only difference is the fact that since it is over the internet, instead of making one tape, you mignt be making 20 copies of a song to upload to other people. Given this, there is currently no rock-solid law which prohibits online music sharing.

There are other forms of online music which may violate copyright. For example, most online radio stations do not pay artist or label royalties, while normal radio stations do. While this amount is small, radio stations have to pay it, so why not online radio stations?

The main issue with piracy is not to let it get so out of hand that the artist actually loses money, since most artists don't make any money to start with. As long as this happens, there should not be an issue.

For More Information Concerning Music Piracy and Copyright, visit the links page