Week 5: That's mine... or is it?

ahhhhh so the issue of copyright! Perhaps I could copy and paste somebody else's blog post and pretend it's mine? Unfortunately you can't ever get away with that. Plagerism is such a prominent issue in many educational establishments. If I however, try to copy and paste, Ted will just throw my work through a computer and find the websites I stole from.


So it would be handy to be able to copy somebody's work sometimes but how would it feel if yours was the one being copied? Without copyright, people work could be taken all the time and then it would never be that person's to claim.

Another point I find interesting is how do you define what is copyright and what is not? So much of the time, people get ideas from things that are already produced and they morph it to make it their own. Is expanding on somebody else's idea considered copyright? If so, then we have a major problem on our hands...

Boldrin raises an interesting question 'is the system of intellectual property – patents and copyrights – with all of its many faults, a necessary evil we must put up with to enjoy the fruits of invention and creativity?' I feel that it is true that we do need to put up with the necessary evil in order to be exposed to original work. If copyright didn't exist, we'd be constantly reading and learning the same things and there'd be a small source of  originality.

Boldrin also says, 'Indeed, while many of us enjoy the benefits of being able to freely download music from the internet, we worry as well how the musician is to make a living if her music is immediately given away for free.' To be honest, and I apologise if this is selfish, the musician's money situation is the last thing on my mind when I download free music. At the time, all I care about is getting my free album and spending the evening listening to it. I figure that the artist can put on a concert and make a couple of million. It is funny though how I feel like I have a right to download music and that I am entitled to free music.

What is intellectual property? according to Wikipedia, it is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property rights include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions.


I feel that copyright is more of a morality then anything. Everyone has a right to protect their moral and material interests.