Legal and Ethical Issues
Porter, E. Copyright Ruling Rings With Echo of Betamax" retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/business/in-a-copyright-ruling-the-lingering-legacy-of-the-betamax.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
This article states that media companies have been fighting the copyright battle since Sony Betamax recorder first came out in 1976. The Supreme Court just barely ruled in favor of Sony 5-4. The rule "first sale" allowed companies like Blockbuster, Netflix, and Redbox to continue renting and reselling videos. Studios use software locks on DVD's, they are coded by regions so buying a cheaper DVD from Asia won't play in DVD player in the U.S. For printed materials (textbooks), publishing companies sell these books for less in other countries. People buy them and bring it the U.S. and sell them here. They were taken to court but saved by "first sale" doctrine. Digital Millennium Copyright Act gives owners complete control of their products. I understand that the legal owners derserve to profit from their product, but why are Americans being punished by having to pay more for the same item that is sold for much cheaper in other countries (digital media and print)? These studios and publishers are really greedy. These same studios won't give a newbee the time of day. So for these unknown artist's putting their material on the internet gives them free publicity. Once they become famous, then they copyright their products for profit.
Final note, it is illegal for people to take copyrighted materials for free, but it is unethical for these studios to charge these high prices for these products.
yea i think thats kind of confusing in my mind as well.
ReplyDeletei wish there was a way of blocking the sites that have the material on it that is copyrighted.
ReplyDeletei agree, if the copies were not out then there will not be anyone trying to steal it without permission.
ReplyDeleteI don't know .i think copies need to be their because they are supposed to be protected but copyright laws should create something to help copying these materials without permission.
DeleteI really like the way your blog posts are organized and to the point.
ReplyDelete