Key
Concepts and Vocabulary
The following concepts should/will be covered
in this module:
- Artist’s Rights
- Intellectual Property
- Illegal File Sharing
- Peer to peer networks and applications
- Ethical dilemmas and value conflicts
- Ethical relativism
- Federal legislation targeting copyright and
intellectual property rights
- The Victimless Crime Argument
- Ethics and decision-making
- Piracy Deterrence and Education Act (PDEA)
of 2004
- The Artists’ Rights and Theft Prevention
Act of 2004
- The Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection
and Security Act (HR 2752)
- The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- U.S. Copyright Law
- Recording Industry Association of America
Artists’ Rights –
reflect the rights of artists as protected starting at the time
the work is created in a tangible form. Work that has been created
for the first time in a tangible form on or after January 1, 1978
has received automatic protection from the moment of creation,
and lasting through the lifetime of the artist, plus an additional
70 years after the artist’s death. This is the copyright
protection afforded artists in the United States. Copy-right law
varies from nation to nation.
Intellectual Property - is a
term used to reflect the ownership of creations of the mind. The
owner/creator of the intellectual property has the ability to
leverage their creative work in multiple areas including for financial
gain. The owner of the intellectual property is also afforded
legal protection of their creative work.
Peer-to-peer file-sharing –
Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing occurs with the use of a software
utility that gives the user the ability to download any type of
file online directly from the computers of other members
within a peer network.
U.S. Copyright Law - The Constitution
indicates that - The Congress shall have Power... To promote
the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited
Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective
Writings and Discoveries. United States Constitution,
Article I, Section 8 (see www.loc.gov/copyright/)
Copyright - is a form of protection provided
by the laws of the United States (see Title 17, U. S. Code) to
those creators of “original works of authorship,”.
These include literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain
other intellectual works. Copyright protection is available to
both published and unpublished works (see www.copyright.gov)
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act –
is legislation designed to protect copyright by criminalizing
the development of any technology created with the specific purpose
of disabling mechanisms designed to protect copyrighted works.
This legislation was passed by unanimous vote in the United States
Senate on May 14, 1998.
Ethical Dilemmas – are
those situations that result when values are in conflict and compete.
Ethical dilemmas are those situations in which any possible course
of action involves both right and wrong.
Ethical Relativism is the belief
that what is right or wrong varies from culture to culture. Hinman
(n.d.) argues that in ethics, two main types of relativism exist.
One is descriptive ethical relativism that claims as
a matter of fact that different people or groups have different
moral beliefs. This form of relativism takes no stand on whether
those beliefs are valid or not. The other is normative ethical
relativism which holds that that each culture’s (or
group’s) beliefs are right within that culture, and that
it is impossible to validly judge another culture’s values
from the outside. (For further elaboration on this subject,
see the module on Moral Relativism.)
H. R. 2517 – The Piracy Deterrence and Education
Act of 2004 – a bill introduced in the House of
Representatives by Congressmen Smith, Berman, and Conyers to enhance
criminal enforcement of copyright laws, educate the public about
the application of copyright law to the Internet, and clarify
the authority to seize unauthorized copyrighted works.
H.R. 2752 - The Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection
and Security Act – a bill sponsored by Congressman
John Conyers, Jr. to encourage the development and distribution
of creative works by enhancing both domestic and international
enforcement of copyright laws, and for other purposes.
S. 167 – Artists’ Rights and Theft Prevention
Act of 2005 – a bill sponsored by Senator Orrin
G. Hatch to provide for the protection of intellectual property
rights and other purposes.
The Victimless Crime Argument – relates
to the behavior of an individual that is prohibited by law, but
does not violate the rights of, or threaten to harm to, individuals
in society.
Recording Industry Association of
America – is a trade group that currently represents a large
number of private corporate entities in the recording industry
in the United States. The association was formed in 1952 and its
members are responsible for the creation and distribution of approximately
90% of recorded music sold in the United States.
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