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I believe in protection of rights in authorship for people who create or own rights to original content in any media, and I also believe in the openness of the Internet that allows appropriate sharing of that information. Copyright law is already in place, but the protections offered by the current law aren’t always sufficient to prevent financial losses or dilution of value in intellectual property.
Nevertheless, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261 and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) take the wrong approach to supporting copyright owners, and offer solutions that can potentially cripple the Internet as we know it today. Even though SOPA has been delayed, PIPA will be considered tomorrow and I’m sure that this issue is not dead. Online piracy is a real issue that affects all content producers, including this site, and as an author of content, I’m concerned not only that someone may steal and benefit from my work but that I may inadvertently misuse the content of others. As stated on the U.S. Copyright Office site:
The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.
Creative Commons has attempted to address this issue by providing authors, developers, creators, and owners of copyrights a way to provide a blanket set of “permission to use” options. Many copyright holders are willing to share their content as long as they are credited with authorship/ownership and, for Internet content, links back to the original work are included in any derivative uses. However, there are those who disagree with the Creative Commons approach to copyright because they believe that some of the Creative Commons options may confuse consumers.
The problems associated with ownership and enforcement of copyright will continue to evolve as technology makes it easier and easier to copy and distribute content. I expect that we will see ongoing efforts to protect the financial interests of copyright holders, particularly large corporate interests. I hope, however, that the Internet in the United States will remain an open platform for the appropriate sharing of information, opinion, and creative effort, and that this freedom will extend to countries where it does not exist today.
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