My assignment for the week was take a stand on the length for how long a copyright lasts and argue my position. The argument of a copyright has been an issue that involves many ambiguous elements. This is because a copyright can be used in many different ways. Certainly, I believe that that the length of a copyright of a lifetime plus 72 years is too long and allows corporate conglomerates to pressure small time first-users to have an advantage in the market.
First, lets look at the definition of a copyright. It is the exclusive legal right given to the creator of an original work to control its distribution for a length of time, after which the work becomes part of the public domain. This seems like a reasonable and fair definition, but other issues must be considered such as copyrights of items that are not tangible or materialistic.
Published works and movies are easy to follow in the copyright, but how are you supposed to monitor the other millions of ideas and works that are passed around. What I am saying is that not all first-time marketers come up with their own original ideas, but often use the ideas of others that are not tangible.
The fact that a copyright lasts for 72 years initially seems somewhat reasonable in the fact that the producer of the work is benefiting from his or her copyright while they are alive, but what about when they pass away? What happens to the copyright and how does one benefit from it after they are gone?
This extra long copyright seems to give mass media conglomerates the advantage because it gives them the advantage to own both tangible and un-tangible works that would other wise be used by individuals and members of society. I just don’t see it as fair for people who simply want to use the “Happy Birthday” song in a video or work, but have to pay thousands of dollars to the first-time marketer before they do so.
There are a few elements of copyright infringement that dance around the idea of fair use. These include the purpose and character of the use, the nature of copyrighted work, amount of the portion of work used, and the effect of use upon the potential market for copyrighted work. I believe these ideas should be considered when deciding what is fair and what isn’t in the copyright.
Certainly, this issue of a copyright is a very tough and ambiguous task to undertake. I believe that the government needs to take another look at the length of a copyright and more acts and laws that protect the individual first-time user. Examining issues such as the copyright allows us to further look into the world of media and how it works.
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