Persuasive Essay On Copyright Law

The United States of America is built on the backs of innovators, and forward-thinkers. To protect these men and women lawmakers have drafted some of the most important pieces of legislation in our country’s history: copyright law. Copyright’s purpose is to protect the intellectual property of creators, so that their work cannot be used, or reproduced without their consent. This gives creators the security that their assets will not be stolen, and thus, creates an environment that encourages new innovation and artistic expression. However, copyright law no longer works towards its original purpose. Instead, large corporations use it to maintain a stranglehold on works that should have been released to the public domain by lengthening copyright terms far past the life of the creator. Copyright law needs to be reformed so that the time it takes for material to enter the public domain is shorter, and fair-use is put into law so that corporations can no longer use copyright to bully …show more content…
This bill protected copyrighted works for fourteen years after the date of creation with an opportunity for one fourteen-year extension if the creator was still alive (Yu 143). However, today, copyright lasts seventy years past the death of the creator if the rights are owned by an individual, and one hundred twenty years past the creator’s death if the rights are owned by a company (“Copyright Terms and the Public Domain,” copyright.cornell.edu). Some might say this is irrelevant because 1790 was a different time –and they would be right- but were there not authors in 1790 who wished to protect their works from plagiarists, were there not artists whose paintings were faked? It is apparent from looking at the historical progression of copyright law, that it has strayed from its original goal of fostering new ideas, and expanding artistic