Legal Alternatives to Online Piracy

Intellectual property as an asset category is one of the strongest pillars sponsoring the world economy. Knowledge and ideas have always been the fundamental power in economic growth. This supremacy of ideas to lead economic development and progress is marked throughout the world. Principally, the present value of the intellectual property which represents those ideas from computer software and musical recordings to patented pharmaceuticals and information technologies is colossal. Along these lines, the development and embracing of economic innovation is the most prevailing reason governing a country’s underlying growth rate.

These innovations incorporate the development of not only new technologies, but also new materials and methods, modern ways of investing, promoting and allocating goods and services, and novel ways of overseeing a workplace and establishing a business. Over the last generation, a sequence of judgments have proved the imperative meaning of strong intellectual property rights. Given the massive value of economic innovations and the intellectual property embedded in them, it is not unforeseen that the original ideas are often stolen by those who pirate or counterfeit patented or copyrighted technologies and products. 

To guarantee there are right incentives for companies and individuals to keep on investing in the creation, production, promotion and marketing of software, film and sound recordings, international treaties and national laws grant the inventors and producers of software, film and sound recordings various exclusive rights. Any unlawful use of copyrighted material in a way that abuses one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it, signifies copyright infringement. 

There are many various ways copyright owners may uncover their copyright has been violated. Specifically, in the film and music industry, infringing activities embrace the piracy, which indicates the illegal copying of music products that have been circulated without consent from the copyright owner. Under copyright law, it is illegal to download or share copyrighted materials such as music or movies without the authorization of the copyright owner. Customary techniques of these illegal acts are by copying music onto or from a tape, compact disc, hard drive, or the Internet. 

The music and movie industry in latest years has taken a determined methodology to cease prohibited downloading and file sharing. This has placed many individuals worldwide at some legal risk. Every day, millions of people view or download software, music, and movies from various websites. Music, movies, and software are all obtainable from the source of peer-to-peer file sharing. Literally, millions of songs are accessible for download using peer-to-peer software and they are simple to get. Consequently, the act of downloading or sharing copyrighted material without the owner's permission breaks the law and arises suits by the copyright holders and significant financial and criminal penalties against the infringers. 

Music theft is a real, constant, and growing challenge. Both the capacity of music obtained illegitimately without disbursing for it and the subsequent decline in profits are overwhelming. Digital sales, while on the increase are not making up the disparity. Music has value for the artist and for everyone who produces in the industry. While downloading one song may not feel that serious of a crime, the increasing impact of millions of songs downloaded illegally and without any return to all the people who helped to produce that song and convey it to followers is distressing. Digital music theft has been a key factor behind the drop in sales over the past fifteen years. Despite the fact that the practice of peer-to-peer sites has crushed during current years, other methods of digital theft have appeared, embracing unauthorized digital storage lockers used to disperse copyrighted music, stream ripping programs, and mobile applications that facilitate digital content theft. 

There are three allowances to the copyright infringement rules, which permit one to reproduce another's work without obtaining a license or assignment of rights: a) the fair use doctrine, b) the public domain, and c) the non-copyrightable works. Fair use authorizes the reproduction of copyrighted material for the regulated purpose of teaching, reviewing, literary criticism and the like. Public domain infers to works which are no longer protected by copyright law. Non-copyrightable works indicate material that cannot be shielded by copyrights, such as facts or ideas.

Copyright infringements and piracy are not offenses without injured parties as many people believe; the real harmed persons are the producers, designers, writers, composers, songwriters, film directors and investors. Without these individuals, there would never be anything newborn. Technology has made digital copying more trouble-free than ever. But just because advances in technology make it feasible to copy music doesn't mean it’s always legal to do so. Downloading unauthorized music from file sharing systems is illegal even if it isn't for commercial purposes and just for personal use. This inference is based on a long series of court rulings internationally, which has made it very clear that uploading and downloading copyrighted music without permission on file sharing networks constitutes infringement and is a crime, which results in criminal and civil penalties. 

On the other hand, there are many legal alternatives that allow you access to songs on the Internet. For instance, instead of downloading music from file sharing programs, many online services allow the users to download and pay for individual songs or albums. Furthermore, most online marketplaces permit you to purchase music and video without constraints. Apart from this, the user can play the song she purchased on any device. By paying a monthly fee, the user can gain access to an extensive library of songs. In addition to these options, there are also many free services available on the Web, which offer access to music. Free online radio stations and other multimedia sites let the user to take pleasure in a broad collection of music. The number of legal alternatives to music piracy is developing every day. The internet subscribers should investigate these alternatives and avoid the music piracy. If someone downloads music illegally, her actions may sooner or later get closer to her. 

Numerous moral arguments for intellectual property have been presented. Specifically, intellectual property is a plus point for an individual and inspires social progress and future innovation. Besides this, intellectual property is rationalized based on merit and hard work. In particular, copyright law safeguards the value of inventive work and the ethical claims that are linked with individuality. As a result, when someone makes unauthorized copies of someone’s creative work, the actor takes something of value from the owner without her consent. Breaching intellectual property is no different morally than harming other property rights which concedes the very processes of existence and therefore constitutes an immoral act. However, some forms of copying are morally permissible, if the use is not for commercial purposes and the copying is based on legal ways and especially on exceptions to the copyright infringement rules. 

In conclusion, the only way to control and fight against online piracy is by first educating and directing the Internet users to legal alternatives rather than punishing them. Moreover, international cooperation and foundation of an Internet Copyright law that centers on social changes and exists autonomous of all other copyright laws are definitely required with a combination of robotics and human effort. Except for the aggressive governmental measures to strengthen global enforcement of intellectual property rights, the current copyright system needs to be brought into line with reality and the societal needs. FLOSS licensing, creative commons, and open sources are very remarkable movements in our times and have reinforced the rights of freedom of knowledge, education, culture and communication. Therefore, we shall persist supporting these alternative modern ways. Above all, the file sharing enterprises/websites should be accountable for controlling the content whose dissemination they facilitate and efficient punishment should be in place for the failure of such enterprises/websites to comply with their duties. There are ways that the whole piracy industry can ultimately fade away. Even though we have to deal with big challenges, it’s still doable.