Copyright: The acknowledgement of source data and the ease which digital data can be modified

Copyright: The legal protection given to the creator of a work so that they have the ownership and right over their own material

• Permission must be obtained from the creator in order for others to use their work
  • Students have special provisions for their research/school tasks

Positives

• Legal protection and fair dealing
  • Work is prevented from being stolen and used by other people without credit
  • Author is happy because time and effort are recognised
  • Students are happy because they can learn and use the work
• Revenue can be generated through monetisation (licensing)
  • This will promote people to be creative and have them try their hardest on a project, as it is a way for people to generate money to live on

Negative

• Difficult to enforce
  • Due to the ease which digital data is modified
    • piracy software allows works to be stolen, modified slightly, and claimed as someone else’s own product
  • Piracy is a major problem as files can be easily copied/modified for an unauthorised distribution
• Limits availability of information be restricting use/distribution of works
  • People cannot build upon existing works, and share it due to copyright
    • E.g. Filmmaker may not be able to use copyrighted music in a film, limiting creativity
• Complicated/confusing
  • Copyright laws may be confusing for non-law experts to understand.
    • Can discourage people from sharing works, even if it is legal, due to fear of repercussions
• Legal disputes, costly litigation
  • Copyright disputes often costly/time-consuming (When infringement is difficult to prove)
    • I.e. When artists ‘steal’ parts of songs from another
    • Can make difficult for smaller organisations or individuals to defend themselves

Copyright can be respected through:

• Acknowledging sources
• Cross-referencing
• Asking for permission to use copyrighted material
• Using original material (things that you have created)
• Providing links in a multimedia system to the site containing the material, instead of placing material on your site

Appropriate use of the Internet and widespread application of new developments

• The internet has become an integral part of our lives
  • Communication technology and applications have been developed for positive and negative use