Copyright Infringement Reflection
A Brief Introduction and Discussion of Illegal Sharing Yulei Xu
Copyright violations are a common issue around the globe. Unlawfully obtaining of copyrighted materials through Peer-to-Peer(P2P) network is called “pirating”. It is the most popular among the ways copyrighted materials are shared unlawfully. According to statistics by the website GO-Gulf, the music industry suffers 12.5 billion in “economic losses” as a result of online pirating. The same statistics also says that music contents only account for around 2% of copyrighted materials illegally shared online. Among other shared materials are movies, TV shows, pornography and etc, each constituting …show more content…
However, copyright violation lawsuits that involve pirating are usually not favorable for the defendant. Because the common interpretation of the Copyright Act of 1976 would most likely lead to a guilty sentence, though the law itself was created before the issue. The penalties for such sentences are severe, ranging from prison time to a good amount of fines, depending on the severity and nature of infringement. The potential legal costs for any individual who is sued for pirating are huge, so why would people still pirate, one might ask. With a list of serious legal repercussions, the popularity of pirating within the United States almost seems unreasonable. The reason behind this could be the low rate of lawsuit following pirating. According to the Reddit user ChickenOfDoom, “There is a 1/14058 chance of being sued for the average pirate each year”. The number was worked out by the user using public data of IP Litigation in US District Courts from 1994-2015. Although the number could be inaccurate and not of best academic standards, the reality it conveys is true: people get away with
A Brief Introduction and Discussion of Illegal Sharing Yulei Xu
Copyright violations are a common issue around the globe. Unlawfully obtaining of copyrighted materials through Peer-to-Peer(P2P) network is called “pirating”. It is the most popular among the ways copyrighted materials are shared unlawfully. According to statistics by the website GO-Gulf, the music industry suffers 12.5 billion in “economic losses” as a result of online pirating. The same statistics also says that music contents only account for around 2% of copyrighted materials illegally shared online. Among other shared materials are movies, TV shows, pornography and etc, each constituting …show more content…
However, copyright violation lawsuits that involve pirating are usually not favorable for the defendant. Because the common interpretation of the Copyright Act of 1976 would most likely lead to a guilty sentence, though the law itself was created before the issue. The penalties for such sentences are severe, ranging from prison time to a good amount of fines, depending on the severity and nature of infringement. The potential legal costs for any individual who is sued for pirating are huge, so why would people still pirate, one might ask. With a list of serious legal repercussions, the popularity of pirating within the United States almost seems unreasonable. The reason behind this could be the low rate of lawsuit following pirating. According to the Reddit user ChickenOfDoom, “There is a 1/14058 chance of being sued for the average pirate each year”. The number was worked out by the user using public data of IP Litigation in US District Courts from 1994-2015. Although the number could be inaccurate and not of best academic standards, the reality it conveys is true: people get away with