Copyright laws were something I really never took seriously. I’ll admit I’ve used Limewire many of times in the past. But after the lecture by Jason Hardin, Manager of Access Services, I’m without a doubt going to religiously follow the rules and regulations set by the RIAA, MPAA, and ESA. I have always heard stories of people being taken to court for downloading too many songs or movies off of Limewire and similar sites but I never thought that I was at serious risk of being caught until Jason Hardin explained that the RIAA, Recording Industry Association of America, was constantly monitoring illegal downloads, especially in college campuses! The RIAA can identify exactly what you downloaded, your IP address, and even the exact time (to the millisecond) of when you downloaded it. A Trinity Student was actually caught by the RIAA illegally downloading no more than a dozen classic country songs and settled out of court for 14,000 dollars! I don’t care how much I like a song I’m not willing to pay over 3 dollars for it, let alone over 1,000!
I fully understand that the RIAA, MPAA, and ESA are just protecting the intellectual property of others but I believe instead of spending so much time and money going after the individuals doing the illegal downloading they should go after the sites that offer such file sharing. Many Americans don’t understand the difference between illegal file sharing and websites like YouTube and I believe it’s the entertainment industry’s duty to inform and educate the public of what is and isn’t allowed. Before talking with Jason Hardin I was completely oblivious of what constituted as copyright infringement but now I know what I can and can’t do with someone else’s intellectual property. It’s essential that copyright laws be enforced but if the entertainment industry educates the American people I believe copyright infringement will decrease significantly.
I fully understand that the RIAA, MPAA, and ESA are just protecting the intellectual property of others but I believe instead of spending so much time and money going after the individuals doing the illegal downloading they should go after the sites that offer such file sharing. Many Americans don’t understand the difference between illegal file sharing and websites like YouTube and I believe it’s the entertainment industry’s duty to inform and educate the public of what is and isn’t allowed. Before talking with Jason Hardin I was completely oblivious of what constituted as copyright infringement but now I know what I can and can’t do with someone else’s intellectual property. It’s essential that copyright laws be enforced but if the entertainment industry educates the American people I believe copyright infringement will decrease significantly.
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totally agree with you Mr. Danny
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