What do you see as the positives and negatives around copyright?
At this stage, the UK’s current copyright law is The Copyright Protection Act 1988 and it “allows the copyright owner to protect against others copying or reproducing their work.” (Copyright Licensing Agency, 2017). One of the biggest benefits of this is the idea of “Automatic Copyright” where anything published is instantly protected by copyright. This, however, creates a problem. Where everything is copyrighted, it makes it very difficult for anyone to create original work, or to avoid infringing on the copyright act when making something that they thought was their own. Another downside of this law is seeking the permission of the copyright holder to gain their permission for use. It can be very hard to find the copyright holder and could cost a lot of money. They might even say no, to which you have then spent a lot of time and money on something for no reward.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Copyright.svg
Another negative could be that it “can be expensive for the owner to enforce” (Schnotz, 2017). Say, for example, the owner’s work has been copied by a large business with a lot of money. They could find it difficult to take on such a company where they can spend a lot of money on lawyers to fight their case. An individual might not have this option and just have to accept what has happened.
Is it possible to make anything new?
Unfortunately, in today’s society, I don’t believe that it is possible for someone to create something new. What I mean by this is, I don’t feel that it’s possible to create something original as we are constantly being influenced by others work without even realising it. In video games,
However, in video games, it can be a little easier. Creating these games requires a large amount of programming, and the benefit of this is, there are lots of different ways to program a game. Different languages, different functions that do the same thing. It’s this code and the artwork that creates the “new game”. A great example of this is Flappy Bird. A game that exploded on the app market in 2013. With such a simple game, it was so easy for other developers to create “clones” of these games, without infringing on the copyright of the actual game. Just a simple search on the Google Play Store reveals many flappy bird clones: Blue Flying Bird, Happy Bird Pro, Flappy Bird.
Screenshot of Google Play Store after searching “Flappy bird”
With all work, it is hard to create something that is uninfluenced by anything. Although I don’t have a problem with this. I feel that it is good to be influenced by someone else’s work as it shows admiration. Act’s like the Creative Commons are brilliant for this as they allow for work to be used and adapted to create something new. Not only that, but it often supported by the original owner and they endorse the use of their work to create something they wouldn’t have thought of.
References
Copyright Licensing Agency. (2017). What is Copyright? | Copyright Licensing Agency. [online] Available at: https://www.cla.co.uk/what-is-copyright.
Schnotz, W. (2017). Pros & Cons of Copyright Laws. [online] Yourbusiness.azcentral.com. Available at: https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/pros-cons-copyright-laws-5170.html.
Useful Links
https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/search_results_cluster_apps?clp=ggENCgtmbGFwcHkgYmlyZA%3D%3D:S:ANO1ljKrca4