What about the Copyright Week?

Copyright is a system that protects a creator’s expression through all mediums and includes but is not limited to software, art, data, and music. It is designed as a barrier to people who would copy a work they didn’t create or steal a product, such as a movie. Copyright law, like all good things, has the ability to be misused. It can become a barrier to innovation and de-rail the rights of ownership. It can also be twisted to benefit big business or a select group of people that it was never intended to serve. Copyright Week was created to celebrate the freedom that copyright laws offer us, but more importantly, it is a tool that draws attention to the misuse of copyright and unites people in a mission to dismantle laws that propagate unethical behaviors and business practices.

Protecting Ownership

The digital age has opened many doors for the unethical use of copyright. Many companies have created barriers to ownership, like the software in the items that we purchase. For instance, a farmer buys a tractor, and this machine functions from a central mainframe computer. The software controls harvesting, engine function, and operation. Farmers are notorious for working on their own equipment. New laws state that while the farmers did purchase the tractor, they did not purchase the software and thus may not alter it in any way. This is a direct violation of ownership and an unethical method to profit on farmers by creating a small market of mechanics that can work on these machines that profit the company that sells them. Many battles are waged over smartphones, computers and similar products.

Transparency

Copyright law is a protective system that needs to be communicated clearly and implemented in a way that is easily understandable. There are many practices that attempt to enact copyright law in a method that resembles a landmine. In other words, violators are unaware that they have infringed on copyright law until it’s too late. Laws that are designed this way are made to benefit corporations by persecuting unwary violators and profiting off of the legal ramifications of copyright infringement. Copyright Week exists to stand against this behavior.

Standing against Censorship

Copyright can be used in an unethical manner to censor the information that communities, demographics, and entire countries have access to. Copyright law is designed to benefit humanity, promote creativity, and fuel innovation. Copyright Week takes a stand against the censoring of information.

Promoting Circulation, Not Stagnation

Innovation is the ability to take something that is good and make it better. Innovation is the reason that we have access to the luxuries we do today. People have repeatedly improved upon others designs to make systems that are more efficient than their predecessors. Copyright Week takes a stand against laws that limit creativity, stagnate innovation and constrict forward motion. While protecting a creation from abuse is important; limiting our ability to question, refine, and alter property is a limit that handicaps progress.

Copyright Week is a celebration of a system that protects our property while also providing a platform that allows communities to unite and demonstrate a powerful and positive change in the world. It is vital that we have the means with which we may blow a whistle on poor legislation and unethical conduct. The world and its people are always changing, Copyright Week ensures that we can influence this evolution in a way that benefits society and protects the well-being of its communities.