Shipp

Kevin Shipp
Government
Mr. Rogers
2 November 2015
Internet Regulation: Copyright Law
Copyright Law has existed from 1790, and it has been heavily scrutinized recently due to
the quickly evolving nature of the internet and technology as a whole. Copyrights and their
complexity have greatly advanced, and theyre much different than what they used to be
hundreds of years ago. The issue is that Copyright Law is antiquated and is in dire need of
change. Content creators are hurt by this strict law, which inhibits the creativity and development
of them. Copyright law should be reformed because it hurts the creators with its ambiguity, is
much too strict for this day and age, and its extremely outdated.
Copyright Law needs to be reformed because it mainly hurts the creators, which is far
from its intended purpose of helping the creators. Instead of peoples ideas and inventions being
stolen, the law tends to err on the more broad side, and things with slight resemblance to original
ideas arent allowed. For example, The Yale Law Journal states that, Copyright owners have 70
years of protection after their death(Admiralty Procedure). This means that if someone with an
important copyright for something important, like an emerging technology, could halt all
progress on it for 70 years. Of course, some people are sensible and can negotiate with this, but
others stand firmly and can end up stagnating an important idea or invention. Because copyright
infringement isnt always clear cut, it can be hard to interpret this already unique law. According
to The Digital Learning Challenge, Fair use is extremely unclear(Copyright Law Challenges).
Due to this, interpretation of Copyright Law can vary, and it can be extremely detrimental to

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other creators. In addition, Current Copyright Law is unclear and complicated. (Admiralty
Procedure) This is due to the ever-changing goals of it, which makes it extremely difficult to
establish what exactly it should do.Its purpose is changing, and reform is necessary so that
creativity isnt stifled.
Today, the issue is that Copyright Law should have a balance between protecting
the creators, yet still allowing for other people to create similar content without problems.
Lindenbaum says, Copyright Law is unique and tough to enforce because it isnt
concrete(Lindenbaum). The parameters of this law make it difficult to interpret it, even
more so fairly. It isnt like conventional laws, where one can easily discern right from
wrong, guilty from innocent. According to the Copyright Law Challenges, Fair use is
extremely unclear (Copyright Law Challenges). This is mainly because as technology
has progressed and peoples ideas have become more complex, simple Copyright Law
isnt able to deal with these complex situations. It can easily work with simple
copyrights, but as society has changed, so reform is required. Also, this law is unique
because it has changed rapidly with the growth of technology. For example, The rapid
advancement of technology makes it difficult to interpret this law at times (Paulos).
This, along with the age of Copyright Law, warrants a large change in it.
Finally, Copyright law is extremely out-of-date. This law use to have a different
purpose, and because it hasnt been changed recently, its archaic and in need of change.
For example,Christopher Springman says, the 1976 Copyright Act shifted its purpose
completely and has been used ever since(Springman). Its certainly a bad sign if such a
monumental law hasnt been modified much in about 40 years. Our ever-evolving society
is moving faster than ever before, and even though the country wont freeze to solve

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these issues, if theyre left unnoticed they can have drastic effects. In addition, John
Paulos writes that, The legal adaptation of copyright law lags behind technological
change (Paulos). This is natural because legislation can be slow, but there is no excuse
for a law of such great importance, that doesnt receive necessary revision. Its so slow
that it cant even accommodate the authors desires. For example, The author should be
able to withdraw a work that embarrassed him in old age (Goodwin). This shows that
Copyright Law is so archaic and rigid that its extremely hard to do things that should be
simple, like removing a copyright, or sharing a work with others. It just goes to show the
far-reaching implications of this law, and how its reform is absolutely necessary.
However, there are many people who believe that Copyright Law is just and is
perfect where it is. They say that its even loose, just because people dont always get
caught for stealing other peoples ideas. This isnt true, and in fact, current Copyright
Law makes it extremely difficult for people to collaborate and advance our world. For
example, John Tehranian says, As technology evolves, copyright laws will be able to be
enforced more (Tehranian). Rather than changing the law, people just want the law to be
strictly enforced, even if it doesnt fall exactly within the scope of the law. Reformed
Copyright Law would help both sides, and make it more fair overall. Also, people argue
that one can still express oneself, while not infringing on other peoples copyrights. But
today, with a large number of copyrights, Christina Bohannan says, Strict Copyright
Law prohibits self-expression (Bohannan). It is important that when its reformed, it
doesnt become unnecessarily strict. Furthermore, it is irrefutable that education is
important, and as Joan Cheverie says, Outdated Copyright Law is a hinderance to the

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advancing technology and education (Cheverie). This would only make it difficult for
people to continue creating content without fearing persecution.
In conclusion, Copyright Law must be reformed. It is a pressing issue, that will
only become more important in future years. Currently, it is unclear, strict, and outdated.
With simple changes, it can become a relevant and beneficial law, which would help both
creators of content and the users.

Works Cited
Admiralty Procedure and Proposals for Revision." The Yale Law Journal. Copyright Reform.
Author's Alliance. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
Baldwin, Peter. The Copyright Wars: Three Centuries of Trans-Atlantic Battle. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Print. 19 Oct 2015.

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Bohannan, Christina. "Copyright as Property." Copyright and Creativity. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
"Copyright Law Challenges." The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of
Content in the Digital Age. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Lindenbaum, John. "Music Sampling and Copyright Law." (n.d.): n. pag. Princeton University.
Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Paulos, John A. "The Shaping Effect on Copyright Law." Technology and Uncertainty. UPenn
Law, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
Sprigman, Christopher. REFORM(ALIZ)ING COPYRIGHT (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.
Tehranian, John. "Infringement Nation." Copyright Reform. University of Utah, n.d. Web. 23
Sept. 2015.