What do you see as the positives and negatives around copyright?

I do not particularly see any negatives surrounding copyright. I think it is a brilliant idea when it comes to providing people, within the creative industry namely, protection for their work and things they create. An advantage to this is that copyright is implemented as soon as the work is published or put out into the world. This does not mean that the ‘artist/author’ has to have their work published by another organisation – as long as your name and the date of it is evidenced, then copyright automatically applies. However, It does mean that ideas are not covered as the work in question must be tangible, so copyright would apply in the case of an idea if it were written down.

I think where artists/authors, especially amateurs, are concerned, the basic, automatic copyright protection is beneficial as some may be naive to the rules of having their work protected and cases where people may use their work. As seen on the BBC website, it states that, “Copyright is enforceable as a legal right in the courts, so if someone copies the whole or a substantial part of your work without your permission, you may be able to apply to the Court for an injunction (this prevents their continued use of your work). And if you have lost money as a result of this illegal copying then you can also apply for damages or an account of profits (to compensate you for your loss).”(Bbc.co.uk, 2017) I think this is incredibly fair but it still might mean that certain works/ideas need to be patented or trademarked in which this costs money.

Is is possible to make anything new?

I think the answer to this question is quite subjective and depends on ones definition and understanding of the word ‘new’. Just like food and fashion and materials, near enough every thing is recycled and this goes for the creative industry too. I think it would be unfair to penalise people for coming across an idea and adapting it in their own way as that is one way how imaginations develop and grow. I think many processes like this lead to new work being generated as, unless it is a direct copy or remains at the same creative ‘stage’ as the adapted piece, then how a it not be new? When we go out to buy a new item of clothing, that item does not just appear in the shop out of nowhere. It is made out of multiple materials, then sent to different stores then we buy it and adapt it to our styles, refreshing the original garment and in a way, making it ‘new’.

I would also consider discoveries as new things having been made. For example, in 2016, four new elements were officially added to the periodic table. (IUPAC | International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2016) For many years, I have known the periodic table to be what it has been for years with the (slightly ignorant) understanding that all elements have been discovered – it just goes to show that four new ones have been discovered and if something new can come around in science, why can it nt come around within the arts? I think as the human race, or some of it, grows more intelligent and technology advances, we will see currently unthinkable ways in which something can be made or done. But of course until then, I cannot give an example as I am not able to think of the unthinkable.