Steve Shannon
A recent headline on Bulldog Reporter “Mistrial Appeal Goes South for Recording Industry: It Appears Copyright-Infringement Movement May Have Lost Its Gusto” sure caught my attention. While the article is factual about the events in the case between the Recording Industry Association of America and Jammie Thomas, whom the RIAA is suing for copyright infringement, the headline itself couldn’t be more wrong. The copyright infringement movement hasn’t lost its gusto at all, and in an ever increasingly digital world, look for creators of original works to equally increase their efforts to protect their copy rights.
The creation of content, whether it be by a well known rock band or a coffee house performer, a mainstream newspaper or an avid blogger, an established painter or one who aspires to become one, all have a common thread – they all either make their living creating that content or hope to make their living doing so. Without copyright protections, making a living creating and selling original works would be non-existent. And so would the public’s enjoyment and benefit from top-notch music, news, art etc.
To that end, the copyright infringement movement is only beginning to gather its steam. Don’t bet for a minute that creators of original works and industry groups like the RIAA are just going to roll over and see their hard work and investments of time and money given away. It always takes a while for law to catch up with technology and as long as there is money on the line, the law will indeed catch up to where the money and commerce is. Whether digital copyrights are clarified by case law, as the RIAA was attempting with the Thomas case, or by the passage of clearer laws on digital copyright, you can be sure this will happen.
In the meantime, it would be wise for in the public relations field to gear their use of copyrighted digital material (mainly news content found on the web) the same as they always have for any other copyrighted works. If you’re in PR, and not sure what the right manner is for the use the copyrighted works, the BurrellesLuce whitepaper “Copyright Compliance: What Every PR Professional Needs to Know” serves as a ready primer. If you have any questions, and there are always lots of questions around this topic, please post them in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer them.
