The Truth about Copyright

Last class, I learned so much from Jason Hardin's lecture. A U.S. copyright on a work becomes effective right as the work is in a fixed, tangible medium and lasts the time of the author's life plus 70 years. I found it interesting to know what exactly constitutes as copyright infringement.  I learned that it is a felony and is copyright infringement when someone makes more than 10 copies and a value of more than $2500. Fortunately, The Higher Education Opportunity Act has 3 provisions that provide students to file share legally.
Previously, I did not really understand the issue of campus-based file sharing such as Limewire and Bit Torrent. Now I know peer-to-peer file sharing allows people to share music by copying a song from one source without paying for it. Some think this is fine to do, with supporters saying that the artist still gets money from other resources and receives more credit on a wide-spread basis, while critics say that the artist gets no credit for his or her artistic talent. I think file sharing is not the best idea; it is risky because these sites are always monitored. If you get caught, be ready to pay, file sharing is illegal!

The Truth About Copyright by Laura Sandling is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.