The Importance of Copyright Laws
The other morning I had the privilege of speaking with a representative from the Copyright Alliance. While it was great fun talking about my writing career and how I balance that with home life, I also came away with a feeling of helplessness. The representative asked what I thought the government could do better to enforce copyright laws and I didn't have a very good answer.
Whether you're a painter, a musician or an author, copyright is important to all artists. We work hard creating our products. Sometimes it takes years before we feel we have perfected a piece, and for someone to come along and take a portion of that piece and use it in their own work is just plain wrong. It's stealing; the same as if you went into the store and took a candy bar without paying for it.
I'm not against borrowing a phrase, or a term, or even reworking or expanding on an existing idea. Expanding on ideas happens all the time. Televisions, computers, cell phones and automobiles are modified and made better each year. It's progress, but it's not progress when your work, line for line, music note for music note and color for color, is taken and inserted into someone else's work and they receive payment for it. Or worse, when your work is given away for free without your knowledge or consent.
As an author, I do submit my work to the copyright office in Washington, D.C so that it is registered and protected under law from theft. I've spent years developing plots and characters and have paid money to promote them. I would be crushed if someone used my work without my consent, or made it available for free. And then I'd be angry. But as the questions were asked, "What do you do if this happens?" and "How do you prevent it from happening?" I don't know, except to ask the person to stop, or to seek legal advice.
Being on this side of the creative industry, I try to be as honest as I can when it comes to another person's work. I don't download copyrighted material from internet to use for my own benefit without permission or giving payment, and I don't insert someone else's work into my stories. I teach my family the same, because the artist who took the time to create the product deserves payment and recognition for his work.
The only real answer I could muster to the Copyright Alliance was to make the laws stricter and raise the amount of the penalties. As for the government enforcing those laws, it will take time, dedication and patience and won't happen overnight. As a citizen and an author, I can continue to do what I do now, only on a broader scope; educate people and make them aware of the time it took someone to create a product and the loss the artist sustains when their work, or a portion of it, is stolen.
Whether you're a painter, a musician or an author, copyright is important to all artists. We work hard creating our products. Sometimes it takes years before we feel we have perfected a piece, and for someone to come along and take a portion of that piece and use it in their own work is just plain wrong. It's stealing; the same as if you went into the store and took a candy bar without paying for it.
I'm not against borrowing a phrase, or a term, or even reworking or expanding on an existing idea. Expanding on ideas happens all the time. Televisions, computers, cell phones and automobiles are modified and made better each year. It's progress, but it's not progress when your work, line for line, music note for music note and color for color, is taken and inserted into someone else's work and they receive payment for it. Or worse, when your work is given away for free without your knowledge or consent.
As an author, I do submit my work to the copyright office in Washington, D.C so that it is registered and protected under law from theft. I've spent years developing plots and characters and have paid money to promote them. I would be crushed if someone used my work without my consent, or made it available for free. And then I'd be angry. But as the questions were asked, "What do you do if this happens?" and "How do you prevent it from happening?" I don't know, except to ask the person to stop, or to seek legal advice.
Being on this side of the creative industry, I try to be as honest as I can when it comes to another person's work. I don't download copyrighted material from internet to use for my own benefit without permission or giving payment, and I don't insert someone else's work into my stories. I teach my family the same, because the artist who took the time to create the product deserves payment and recognition for his work.
The only real answer I could muster to the Copyright Alliance was to make the laws stricter and raise the amount of the penalties. As for the government enforcing those laws, it will take time, dedication and patience and won't happen overnight. As a citizen and an author, I can continue to do what I do now, only on a broader scope; educate people and make them aware of the time it took someone to create a product and the loss the artist sustains when their work, or a portion of it, is stolen.
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