Article Analysis
Living in the environment of the 21st century means being a part of the cyberspace created by the users of the Internet. The provision of free access to online sites has sparked a range of questions concerning copyright issues and the phenomenon of fair use. The boundaries between fair use and copyright infringement have been identified comparatively recently. Indeed, the goal of controlling the use of the intellectual property on the Internet (Lessig 157) still remains rather distant from reality, though, technically, it might be possible.
In her case study, Bishop addresses the complexity of projecting the traditional concepts of copyright and fair use onto the cyber-community. Therefore, modern media and communication teach the necessity to review the current copyright and fair use laws so that they could apply to both digital content and hard copies of media representing intellectual property.
Discussing the issue of copyright infringement in the academic sphere, Bishop carries out a perfect analysis of the threats that an author of a scholarly article or any other type of academic content may face when uploading it into the corresponding database. Bishop makes it clear that the layout of the copyright-related information for the user to get familiar with is the key to building a strong security system.
For instance, the author notes that there are a major “differences in organizational context between the US and Israeli website information” (Bishop 5), which means that there is a need to drive the existing rules to a common denominator. In addition, the stratification of resources, which may become potentially dangerous for information storage, is beyond impressive – the author has identified the tiniest problems with the organization’s archives, the home page, the institutional repository, etc.
The scope is, perhaps, one of the few weaknesses of the case study. While it is important to focus on providing safety for the authors of academic papers, the security of other types of media content is also essential to the future of copyright and Fair Use on the Internet. The fact that Bishop limits her study to the analysis of the problems that a scholar may face reduces the research to a very narrow analysis.
As a result, the results of the case study do not provide a solution for the rest of media copyright concerns. For instance, the problem of abusing the rights of the owners of specific images, audio files, or any other media content that does not belong to the domain of education, remains unresolved.
A brief analysis of modern media has shown that current copyright laws, though applicable in a range of cases, still need a major update in order to protect the intellectual property of online content owners (McChesney 64). While precaution measures have been taken and the principles of Fair Use are now adapted to the use of digital content, such as images, recordings, and texts in digital format, more actions are needed to address the problem of copyright infringement.
However, according to Bishop, the current endeavors for protecting the rights of media content owners, especially academic writers, are truly gratifying. Also, since the basis for establishing the Fair Use policy on the Internet has been created, further alterations concerning the copyright issues are bound to take place within a comparatively short amount of time. A more detailed analysis of the specifics of digital content and its distribution will help address the issue.
Self-analysis
The study carried out by Bishop sheds a lot of light on human nature in general and the understanding of the concept of personal property in particular. I found myself engaged greatly into the investigation of what is considered an admissible act of sharing information, and what taps on the subject of copyright infringement.
The study showed me that I had a very vague idea about fair use of digital copies. Particularly, I realized that I should pay more attention to the threats that a copy of academic work may be subjected to once uploaded in an online database. Overall, the article helped clarify not only some of the key concepts of copyright and fair use but also the means to secure an academic work.
Annotated Bibliography
Bishop, Janet. “Copyright Across the Cohort: A Qualitative Evaluation of the Dissemination of Intellectual Property Information on ARL Websites.” Library Philosophy and Practice 1.1 (2011), 1–15. Print.
A thorough study of the possible copyright issues that may concern a specific educational institution and the corresponding online community of authors and researchers, the article sheds some light on the problem of the security of intellectual property on the Internet. Bishop has suggested analyzing the methods of dissemination of academic information. The study was introduced to readers through a peer-reviewed journal and can be considered credible. The research was used as the basis for this paper.
Lessig, Lawrence.”Remix: How Creativity Is Being Strangled by the Law.” The Social Media Reader. Ed. Michael Mandiberg. New York, NY: New York University Press. 2012. 155–169. Print.
Though generally complex, the issue of Fair Use is especially convoluted in the music industry. Because of the rigid set of principles that the Fair Use and Copyright are based on, the phenomenon of remix may become a dying art. Thus, Lessig calls the confrontations based on the copyright issue a media war. Seeing that modern music relies heavily on remixes, the copyright issue may jeopardize modern music. Lessig’s argument is sharp, topical and reasonable.
McChesney, Robert W. “How Can the Political Economy of Communication Help Us Understand the Internet?” Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism Is Turning the Internet Against Democracy. Ed. Robert W. R. McChesney. New York, NY: The New Press. 2013. 63–95. Print.
McChesney views the problem of modern media from an economic perspective. The effect of media on the political and economic state is evaluated carefully. The results determine the further approach to establishing legal principles on the Internet. Though the specified perspective helps apply the principles of Copyright and Fair Use to the online environment, they still do not solve the problem of the user’s personal choice. The argument, therefore, should have incorporated the concept of personal responsibility.
Works Cited
Bishop, Janet. “Copyright Across the Cohort: A Qualitative Evaluation of the Dissemination of Intellectual Property Information on ARL Websites.” Library Philosophy and Practice 1.1 (2011), 1–15. Print.
“File Sharing.” The Guardian. 2011. Web.
Lessig, Lawrence.”Remix: How Creativity Is Being Strangled by the Law.” The Social Media Reader. Ed. Michael Mandiberg. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2012. 155–169. Print.
McChesney, Robert W. “How Can the Political Economy of Communication Help Us Understand the Internet?” Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism Is Turning the Internet Against Democracy. Ed. Robert W. R. McChesney. New York, NY: The New Press, 2013. 63–95. Print.