I don't really have much of an opinion on copyright laws. I think they are good because they encourage people to create things without having to worry that their creations will be "stolen." However, there is so much red tape that it is difficult to know whether I'm actually breaking copyright laws or not. Fair Use allows people to use copyrighted material not only for educational purposes, but also in commentary or criticism, or in the news. The way I interpret that is that if I am writing in my blog about, say, Modern Art, I can post pictures of artworks that I am talking about. But I don't know if my interpretation is correct...
Copyright laws of helpful, unless you are really trying to keep them. I don't go around printing photos off the internet and framing them for my house, and I don't download songs from the internet. However, I do save photos that I like and listen to music for free online (Grooveshark is awesome). Does that mean I'm breaking copyright law? I don't think so. There are a few examples I can think of when copyright laws were harmful/annoying:
- BYU had to enforce rules barring students from showing movies in public places (outside, in the dorms, etc).
- They closed Clean Flicks because they were "breaking copyright law" by editing movies. See this site.
Copyright laws can be annoying, but if they changed them to be more lenient, there would inevitably be some people who would exploit their new freedoms and wreak havoc on the market.
That's all.
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