Cultural Roadblock

As we’ve been exploring the effects of current copyright laws upon the development of culture, one common theme has struck me as being especially irritating. From what I have gathered, it seems that the major companies that adhere to copyright laws are, in actuality, abusing them. The companies that file lawsuits against individuals who may possibly be guilty of infringement are more concerned with making a hefty profit instead of the theft of originality in the form of unique ideas. For example, Lessig’s Free Culture notes that the RIAA demanded an insane amount of money from the college student that created the search engine for his campus. The figure they asked for rivaled the profits that recording artists, the actual creators of the disputed material, make on a yearly basis. I assume that these artists are more concerned with the theft of their originality, so, hypothetically, if they did not mind, were the copyright laws justly applied? Apparently so, for another case study featured Fox demanding a vast amount of cash for a short Simpsons clip that Matt Groening, the creator of the series, already approved. It seems that copyright laws are being taken advantage of and not employed for the purpose of protecting ideas, for even when permission from the creator is granted, consequences are likely to result.

So why do these companies demand ridiculous amounts of money for potential violations? As the MPAA official stated in the video we watched in class, the purpose is to instill fear in the public. He admitted that the MPAA will never be able to bring piracy to a halt, but they are able to use scare tactics (i.e. lawsuits) to guide society towards what they deem as acceptable conduct. What this official fails to realize, however, is that such behavior by the MPAA deters creativity in our society. Sure, the video featured a number of exceptions from Girl Talk to Brazilian DJs, but the fears and inconveniences associated with copyright demotes creativity and creates an overall negative impact on originality. This use of fear is reminiscent of the tactic employed by the plagiarism statement we explored earlier in class. Was that effective in curbing plagiarism? Is fear really the only way to protect creative property? It seems to me there is more harm than protection.