Copyrights? They're not that important, right?

File-sharing. Free (illegal) downloads. Most people in modern day society use these phrases everyday to discuss their favorite music, favorite television shows or favorite video games. Millions of Americans, both young and old, frequent sites that offer pirated music, movies and other programs without a thought for the copyrights held by the artists and producers of the work that the consumers download illegally. What are copyrights exactly and why do so many people illegally distribute and utilize copyrighted materials?
In today’s society, individuals would probably define a copyright simply as the protection of the work produced by an individual. However, the laws associated with copyrights are far from simple. As demonstrated in the cartoon above, copyright laws often appear to be written in another language. In most cases, the conditions applied by copyright laws work to protect the works created by an individual, as well as any company associated with the work of that individual. In the entertainment industry, the corporations behind artists and actors are quite wealthy. These huge companies are major supporters of copyright laws, which are meant to protect the billions of dollars of revenue raked in by these companies every year. So what’s the harm in illegally downloading one illegal song? Well, people don’t download just one song. Millions of people download millions of songs for free, which means that the producing artists and the record labels don’t get their fair share of revenue. CD and movie sales, specifically, have fallen drastically since the idea of free downloads surfaced on the web.
Let’s look at the other side of the argument: the position of the American public. From this point of view, we can see that the music, movies, games, shows, and every other copyrighted material are all part of the everyday expression of American culture. Even though downloading pirated material is illegal, major corporations are suing individual families for thousands of dollars that the families do not have. In other instances, these lawsuits are filed against people who have used copyright work to create original images, videos or songs. The entertainment industry prepares to launch a campaign against piracy, a strategic move that would allow them to look at a person’s computer history and record their actions. Do copyright laws prevent the public from creating their own unique piece of work from compilations of copyright material? Do these laws prevent the expression of our culture? Would the actions of the entertainment industry infringe on the privacy rights of Americans? It is said that originality doesn’t exist anymore. It is my belief that organizations like Creative Commons, an organization that works with individuals who want to share their works with others while retaining certain rights, show the direction that the debate between the American public and major companies is headed. In order to resolve the copyright conflict, the public, the creator and the companies need to work together to achieve to allow the creativity of upcoming generations to remain mostly unrestricted.