Copyright Thoughts

Over the past couple of computer classes, we have been looking into copyright and piracy laws. We looked into the penalties and punishments, along with some examples of real life cases where people copyrighted. I learned a lot of information that I did not already know. This has changed my view about copyright infringement  and piracy laws. I used to think that these were not as important as stealing from a store but they are equally important. Stealing is illegal, and can be punished like stealing from a store. The maximum punishment for stealing music is up to 5 years in jail and $250,000 in fines. I now understand that piracy is a serious subject, and is not something that can just be overlooked.

An example of copyright infringement is the Michael Bolton vs the Isley Brothers. The Isley Brothers wrote a song in 1966. Then a few years later, Michael Bolton copied the name of the song and some lyrics. They went to court and Bolton was charged with copyright infringement. Click here for more details on the case.I think it was fair the way that Bolton was charged because he stole someone else's work and made money off of it.