In the article “Download this essay: A defence of stealing eBooks” (THINK, 2013) by Andrew Forcehimes, eBooks are an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device and which can be downloaded illegally without intending to return it. Forcehimes states that any argument regarding copyright law which favours the presence of public libraries will certainly also rationalize the stealing of eBooks. It is submitted that, at least economically, there is a qualitative and quantitative dissimilarity between authorizing public libraries and permitting the online distribution of eBooks for free download without the copyright owner’s agreement. This difference rationalizes the dissimilar …show more content…
1. Public libraries are institutions that buy books and then allow members of the community to freely borrow them.
2. Libraries get to buy a copyrighted book, the content of which is the property of either a publisher or author, and give it out for free.
3. Therefore, person borrowing it, under fair-use law, can photocopy the book or article in its entirety and keep it forever.
Forcehimes correctly notes that the rationale, and, it is submitted, the only coherent justification, for copyright protection, is an economic
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A public good produces benefits – positive externalities – which others can enjoy, without the creator of the good having the capacity to avert such enjoyment. This effects in market failure because, despite the amusement of the good by a great number of people, they have no inducement to pay any expanse for such benefit. The market price of a product assists as a signal to impact future behaviour. Despite appreciating the benefits of the public good, consumers will rationally, understate their actual price proclivity for such goods, which will cause creators to collect skewed signs about the authentic demand for such goods, resulting in an inadequate supply of such goods. It also results in the producer of the good being unable to charge a price from all those who benefitted from the good, which reflects the benefit they derive from the
Many countries have adopted a fair usage policy within their copyright laws, ‘Fair dealing’ in United Kingdom law, ‘fair dealing’ in Canada and the ‘United States doctrine of fair use’ to name just a few. The purpose of these policies is to give exception to copyright infringement laws when information has been copied for the purposes of non-commercial research or study, or for the reporting of current events. A document published by the UK intellectual property office: ‘Exceptions to Copyright Law - Research’, states: “The law already permitted limited copying of some types of copyright material, such as books, for non-commercial research or genuine private study. The law has now changed so that all types of copyright works are covered.” The document explains that the amount being copied is limited by the legal application of “fair dealing” and copying the whole work would not constitute as ‘fair dealing’ in this case a licence or paid subscription would be needed. However, according to Section 108 of the Copyright Act, in The USA, it is possible to obtain a whole piece of work from your library, however, certain conditions apply.
This source considers the issue of converting to digital books, specifically as it pertains to the effect that this change would have on the global environment. Although the research does recognize that there are disadvantages to not having a physical copy of a book and to abandoning certain platforms that do not transfer well to a digital form, overall, these researchers conclude that publishers should move towards digital products not only for the sake of cheaper long-run costs, but also for the good that going paperless can do for the environment. By displaying a series of graphs, as well as including multiple data sets, the text explains how e-books compare with printed texts; then, analysis of these facts is also included to show the reader the authors’ point.
Purchasing a physical book versus a digital copy, what differentiate these two items? In Christopher Groskopf’s article, “True or false: If it’s on your phone, and you paid for it, you own it” argues that digital owners’ rights have been limited by the Terms of Service(TOS) that they signed before purchasing the material. The digital owners have become mere users due to the TOS. This article will be analysed using Aristotle’s rhetoric arguments which are logos, pathos and ethos.
Digital media is a major part of my daily life. Every day I check Instagram, discover photos on Reddit, and browse Tumblr. Samantha DiUbaldi’s “Copyright Laws through the Lens of the Digital Age” caught my eye because of how often I consume media on a digital platform. In this paper, I will provide a summary of DiUbaldi’s essay, and how she supports her claim that current Copyright Laws for photographs are not sufficient, and need to be changed. Following the summary will be an analysis on DiUbaldi’s construction of her argument via use of rhetorical appeals. Subsequently I will provide
A public good is defined as an economic good or service that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable. Due to scarcity and human greed, public goods will always be underprovided. Since it is impossible to stop someone from consuming these types of goods, people will keep on consuming it until there is none left. If one does not consume or harvest it today, someone else will consume it tomorrow. This had brought an attention to ecologist, Garrett Hardin. Hardin came up with an economic theory called “The tragedy of Commons” .What is tragedy of commons? The tragedy of commons befalls when individuals act based on their personal interest ignoring the well-being of society. Due to his theory, natural resources are depleting drastically because they are being exploited with no limit.
Wallace, Jonathon. "Purchasing of Blocking Software by Public Libraries in Unconstitutional: A Briefing Paper," available at http://www.spectacle.org/cs/library.html
According to Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, theft is, "The act of stealing; specifically, the felonious taking and removing of personal property, with an intent to deprive the rightful owner of the same" (Webster's 2). Before the advent of moveable type, no one had cause to apply this concept to information rather than physical property. If one were to steal a book, the act was easily recognized as of the same moral color as stealing a horse, a nugget of gold, or any other physical object. The thief?s possession of the stolen item constituted the rightful owner?s lack of it, a loss both real and measurable. Today, theft seems a hazier concept, due to the popularization and codification of Intellectual Property (IP) rights. IP rights differ from standard property rights in that they signify an individual's right of ownership over "intangible things" (Kinsella 3). Arguably, the most important such things are patents and copyrights. Patents protect inventions, and copyrights protect "original forms of expression" (Fisher 1). In both cases, the right to ownership amounts to ownership of an idea, not a physical object.
This does seem to be a valid argument from an author who is known to be a vocal supporter of the internet. There is insufficient evidence presented about whether the future availability of more portable and even sharper computer screens will either lead authors to have access to an infinite new e-book market or lead to piracy of authors works (para.6). The author does not feel that either scenario is likely but does not give a clear explanation regarding why he feels this way. He wishes to include us in his worldview. The author does not believe that handheld devices offer as many distractions as a PC, yet handheld devices are used in
"4 Ways In Which Internet Piracy Can Be a Good Thing." MakeUseOf. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Therefore a free market is not desirable as maximizing their utility is priority. So government is expected to correct the market failure by choosing to char...
Physical piracy-the copying and illegal sale of hard-copy CDs, videotapes, and DVDs-costs the music industry over $4 billion a year worldwide and the movie industry more than $3.5 billion. These numbers do not factor in the growing (and difficult to measure) problem of Internet piracy, in which music and movies are transferred to digital format and copies are made of the resulting computer file. Journalist Charles C. Mann explains why Internet piracy has the potential to be vastly more damaging to copyright industr...
The first reason why downloading and uploading copyrighted materials from the Internet should be legal is that downloading copyrighted materials positively affects the economy. The European Commission Joint Research Center reported that the profits of music companies would be 2% lower if uploading and downloading copyrighted materials were banned. However, music companies are able to acquire more profits despite illegal downloading because many people tend to purchase CDs or DVDs after watching or listening to copyrighted materials for free. Moreover, the research showed that people who download music illegally spent more money to buy music than people who did not download illegally. In addition, research conducted by the Swiss government informed that one-third of Swiss people downloaded copyrighted materials from the Internet because personal use of copyrighted materials is legal in Switzerland. Even though there is a fact that many people can download copyrighted materials from the Internet legally in Switzerland, the amount of money that people spend to buy copyrighted materials is not f...
With technology progressing from drones fulfilling shipments to electronic books becoming cheaper, major companies such as Apple and Amazon have had a big impact on not only the tech industry but the publishing industry as well. Companies are outputting resources like IBook’s and the Kindle bookstore to take full advantage of the transition to digital publishing. As a result of this we have greener, more budget friendly books, and outdated traditional copies of text. With the introduction to these resources it is making the lives of students and the mass market more convenient. Students are now able to purchase books on one device that won’t weigh their bags down on a daily basis. Companies have created bookstores that can be accessed from devices that we use every day, resulting in paperless copies of books that are substantially cheaper than the traditional hard copy. E-books are replacing physical books and textbooks rapidly, and as a result they are becoming more widely and readily available for students.
Knorr, Caroline, “Illegal Downloads: When Sharing Becomes Stealing” (November 19, 2010) https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/illegal-downloads-when-sharing-becomes-stealing (March 31, 2014)
At the dawn of the internet, many things such as books and text became obsolete, due to insufficient monitoring of internet activity and sites. Individuals were able to gain free access to books and publications that normally needed to be bought, or required a fee. This is something that has caused problems for booksellers and publishers. Now, as technology advances, it also begins the decline of music, software, and television industries—but something can be done before it’s too late. Illegal downloading is a problem that affects us all, either directly or indirectly. Many people do not take it too seriously. They have not realized that it is an epidemic; like a disease that keeps growing as people become more knowledgeable about computers and learn more about how software runs. People openly burn music CDs and download music and movies for friends who in turn give it to their friends; it’s a never-ending cycle on illegal practices. The problem started when Napster came out and should have ended when it was shutdown. Unfortunately, not enough has been done to stop the illegal transfer of files. It’s time someone takes full action and ends this detrimental offense.