INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND MEDIA LAW

Intellectual Property Rights and Media Law

Intellectual Property Rights and Media Law

Introduction

Intellectual property refers to the protection of products of human creativity or invention under national and international laws. Intellectual property comprises principally copyright, patents, and trademarks. Individuals and organizations can protect intangible assets in these three areas (Lessig, 2006). The term intellectual property refers to rights of use, and not to physical property such as real estate.

The provisions of fair use in the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 allow certain uses to be made of copyrighted material without permission or a license. The law specifies four factors to consider in determining whether a use is a fair use: (1) the purpose and character of the use, (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used, and (4) the effect on the potential market or value of the work (Waxer, 2006). Quotation of short passages from a long work by a reviewer in a magazine or by a researcher in a book is a protected use. An organization could not, however, legally make photocopies of an entire copyrighted journal article to distribute to its clients or employees.

Discussion

The doctrine of copyright protects the reputation of the creator or rights holder in several ways. Reputation is a key attribute of any creative endeavor, as it can directly influence the financial value of a work. Copyright may be used to protect a work even when the author wishes to remain anonymous or uses a pen name (Schechter, 2003).

Copyright also strengthens the archiving and integrity of content, so that the owner and the works have legal protections against unintended changes, uses, or alterations of a copyrighted work. Publishers provide surety through the persistence, preservation, and distribution of creative works.

Cases of copyright infringement that have captured media attention involve suits brought by the recording industry against internet file-sharers, and a rise in the incidence of publishers suing copy shops located near the campuses of major universities. The recording industry filed 261 lawsuits against consumers who shared music over the internet (Nimmer, 2007). File sharing networks, such as Napster, allowed millions of people to trade and download files of copyrighted music free of charge. The magnitude of internet file-sharing poses a threat to recording companies that lose the competitive advantage they have enjoyed over production and distribution (McCarthy, 2006).

In an unprecedented move, the recording industry decided to sue a sample of people who had made 1,000 songs or more accessible in folders housed on major file-sharing services. This move represents an effort to stigmatize an activity that an estimated 60 million Americans engage in by labeling it as a criminal activity. It is a strong message to the public. However, it has been pointed out that the recording industry risks alienating the public; increasingly, unmasked offenders have been teens and college students (Kirsch, 2005).

In 2003, a crackdown focused on businesses that copy and sell course-packs to college students without first getting permission from ...