Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
materials, as well as printed materials?
Copyright law applies to all appropriate materials, in paper
form or electronic form, as well as to works of art and music. It
does not matter if you find an item written on paper or if you have
downloaded it from the World Wide Web. Copyright law applies to
any work, regardless of the medium used. Two examples can pro
vide additional insight.
Although you certainly can look at material posted on the
World Wide Web, the presence of the material on the Web
does not give you
ownership
. You may have copy permission
to download a copy for yourself, but you do not have copy
right permission to distribute the materials as you wish.
Similarly, if you receive material through email, you clearly
are allowed to read it. The creator, however, retains copy
rights to decide how the material can be distributed; you do
not have the legal right to distribute the material (even
through email), unless you have permission from the copy
right owner.
over the Internet to my computer?
From an academic perspective, downloading and using music or
pictures for your own use raises the same questions of intellectual
property and academic honesty that we just discussed. Also, as we
have just established, music and pictures are under copyright.
However, for artists and authors, unauthorized copying has ca
reer consequences: These people may depend upon income from
their work for all or part of their livelihood, or income from sales
may be used to cover the costs of production and recording.
When sales represent the bulk of a musician's livelihood, mech
anisms that undercut sales have a direct effect on the person's in
come and standard of living. For example, if the musician relies on
sales of recordings as a primary source of income, then income
drops as sales drop. Such a situation might arise if someone posted
