Today, one can easily subscribe to a newspaper, order a magazine, listen to a radio broadcast over the Internet or purchase a video from a retail store. However, when asked which law would govern those transactions, most people would have a very difficult time answering this question. When discussing copyrighting and conflict, viewed individually have distinct definitions that make the two completely different things, however there are traits that connect them together when raising certain questions. Like, even though exclusive rights show ownership over something to the creator, “Is there conflict in the sense that although the work is offered to the public for use of obtaining knowledge and for use of reference, is it okay to use the piece without giving proper credit to the initial creator?” otherwise known as copyright infringement.
According to Wikipedia, Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time, after which the work enters the public domain. Conflict is a state of discord caused by the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. A conflict can be internal (within oneself) or external (between two or more individuals). Conflict as a concept can help explain many aspects of social life such as social disagreement, conflicts of interests, and fights between individuals, groups, or organizations. Copyright infringement (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.
So the conflict occurs in copyrighting when there is copyright infringement and the question posed is, is it okay to use something that’s not mine and say that it is because of the fact that it’s not a physically bound text? In an attempt to accommodate both the interests of content creators and the public good, laws created by governments to protect everyone alike should be made well known, so that everyone can abide by them and in turn give everyone what they want and need. Maybe the laws created need to be more explicit and clearly defined or at least more well-known to regulate any violations made by the public. However this may be somewhat of an international conflict as well, considering that one country’s laws governing copyright infringement may be different from another and dependent on the violation that took place as well. For example, from Wikipedia there is worldwide collaboration to fight copyright infringement, “Servers enabling internet-based copyright infringement are often based in countries with less strict copyright laws or enforcement history.[9][10][11] BPI spokesman Matt Phillips has said the lax copyright laws in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet countries made it hard to crack down on copyright infringement there.[12] Copyright holders are collaborating to fight this activity, through lobbying governments and other means.”
The technical structure needed to carry through with regulation are our modern advancements in technology that allow us to govern online activity. The technical structure is already available it just needs to utilized. Maybe this means hiring more employees to monitor appropriately and accordingly. The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA), a portion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act known as DMCA 512 or the DMCA takedown provisions, is a 1998 United States federal law that provides a safe harbor to online service providers (OSPs, including Internet service providers) that promptly take down content if someone alleges it infringes their copyrights. Social structures may require something along the lines of educating the public for its own good on the laws and rules and the governing bodies that monitor activity to ensure that violations made are caught and punished. So, I agree with the steps that have already been conducted and that will be taken to regulate laws created and that governing bodies can eventually produce a tight regime to ensure that the work of others is not exploited in a way that would withhold credit from the rightful creator.
Works Cited
· Copyright Infringement. (n.d.). WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia online. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://www.wikipedia.org/
· Copyrights. (n.d.). WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia online. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://www.wikipedia.org/
· Conflict. (n.d.). WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia online. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://www.wikipedia.org/
· Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act. (n.d.). WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia online. Retrieved September 12, 2008 from http://www.wikipedia.org/
· Yu, P. K. (April 2001). Conflict of Laws Issues in International Copyright Cases. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from http://www.peteryu.com/gigalaww0401.pdf
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