About Copyright Infringement

by Kim Brenner

Here is an article on copyright infringement. I hope you find the information useful! Editor.

So, are you one of those people who use the computer to listen to digital music? Come on now, admit it. Nearly everyone who has a computer does download music. If music is not your scene, maybe you use the Internet to browse through various websites and web pages. Have you ever found something that you liked somewhere and just copied it? For future use maybe? Or how about pdf versions of popular books? Don’t tell me a friend or acquaintance never sent one to you! And finally, the latest trend. Films and video. It must be such a relief not to have to shell out loads of money just in order to watch the latest movie or much discussed snippet.

Well, if you have indulged in any of the above things, you can be sure that you have been involved in copyright infringement. That’s right. Copyright infringement is not just direct copying and replication of intellectual property for commercial use. Even stand alone consumers like you and me will be guilty of copyright infringement if we blatantly copy material that does not belong to us without the explicit permission of the owner or producer of the work. In fact, most countries have recently passed laws against the exploitation of internet specific resources.

While the laws may differ from country to country, one thing is for certain. Copyright infringement is a big blow to all genuine businesses worldwide. To those of you who are wondering what the big deal is, imagine this scenario. You own a beautiful and expensive watch. You proudly display it in front of your house so that everyone can appreciate its beauty. Imagine your horror when some passer by takes a look at it, likes it and calmly walk up to pocket it and move away. You would scream murder and call the police right?

Copyright infringement is something very similar. Most people assume that because the material can be easily and conveniently replicated and since there are no obvious inconveniences to copying materials from the web and rapidly distributing them, there is no true theft that occurs. But if one were to go by the fact that genuine artistes lose millions thanks to copyright infringements on an almost daily and continuous basis, then you would not take this view.

In fact, if you are using a peer to peer network on the Internet to trade any sort of digital content that does not give credit or royalties to the creator, then you can be sure that you are committing copyright infringement.

Copyright Infringement Resources:

Copyright Law of the United States of America - learn about copyright infringements and the law behind it!