Illegal copyright infringement Essay

Copyright infringement includes online file sharing. While online file sharing softwares may be legal, the software has the ability to infringe copyright law which is illegal. Documents created by a user that are shared with another user, or peer, is a legal procedure. However, problems arise when files that are shared include copyrighted material such as software, games and movies.Illegal file sharing costs Companies and individuals who produce creative content millions of dollars every year in combination.
Although, the public has gotten comfortable with illegal file sharing as a normal practice, copyright infringement has many negative impacts including
Artist Loses-Breaches of copyright result in lost earnings for content creators
Prices Increase- Money lost from online copyright breaches could mean that content creators need to increase their prices to make ends meet.
Loss of credit- An infringer might take credit for the illegally shared content by enhancing or tweaking it.
Discussion of problems
The value of many creative works, especially those with limited merchandising potential such as nonfiction books or photographs, is entirely contained in their intellectual property. If that value is decreased by sharing a work online as soon as it is published, it is the work's creator who is hit first. Ultimately, less money flowing through creative industries could negatively impact the quantity and quality of works on offer, which will discourage artists from coming up with more interesting and creative works.
An individual might not realise illegal sharing as a crime since they are a minority compared to the rest of the world that purchase the content legally. However, this individual is now a thief according to Copyright holders.People do not think of sharing copyrighted material as stealing in the same way they think about walking into a store and running out the door after grabbing a tape they have been waiting to hear.Although Courts have distinguished between copyright infringement and theft since the stolen item is actually not of a physical nature.
Increment of prices is also another problem when it comes to copyright infringement and file sharing since creators, distributors or individuals may need to launch legal proceedings to prevent further violations of their creative property. Expensive lawyer bills are fairly common in copyright cases, and it is likely to be the consumer who loses out as companies increase the price of their products to cover their legal fees.This increase can affect the economy as a whole since inflation is usually not desirable.
An artist usually signs their work with a unique signature that is hard to duplicate. However, modern sophisticated softwares have the ability to change creative works and remove all credit from the owner. For example, if a DJ remixes a song made by a certain artist, it is required by copyright law to give credit to the original artist. Taking credit of someone's work de-motivates individuals who work hard to get their intellectual property on the market. This disadvantage affects the society more than anything since dishonesty and lying plays a roll.