Copyright+Law+(Joshua+Kakala)

__**What is Copyright Law?**__ The law of copyright is the legal protection of an original idea, that when copied or stolen means that the copyright law is broken and the creator of the idea is able to sue the offender. Copyright law was set up to prevent people from stealing other people’s property, however as technology get more and more advanced its becoming too easy to steal.

media type="youtube" key="0QiO_H0-ok8" width="425" height="350"

__** What are penalties for breaking copyright law **__ Penalties for breaching copyright law could be one or more of the following, depending on the seriousness of the crime.
 * The offender must pay for damages caused and pay all profits back.
 * The offender is fined from $200 to $500,000, once again depending on the seriousness of the offence.
 * The offender pays for all court costs.
 * The offender may go to jail.
 * The court can impound all the illegal works.
 * The offender must completely stop the infringing acts.

__** A recent case involving copyright law. **__ One of the recent cases where copyright law was broken when the Australian Band Men at Work were sued for stealing the flute part from the song Kookaburra and using the same rift in their song. If they are found guilty they will have to pay all penalties including all profits made from the song. Read More

media type="youtube" key="jCyB2l5wqLE" width="425" height="350"

__** How does copyright infringement affect; **__ Internet Service Providers: Copyright infringement may affect Internet Service Providers in a way because people are copying the idea's of an internet service, changing it to make their own. This has happend with Internet Explorer as there are now different ones that all do the same thing, which is get you on the the internet. These companies are losing money as you can get these cheaper or maybe some for free.

Musicians, Clothes Designers, Movie Makers and Authors: Copyright Infringement affects all these as people are finding it easier to steal music from muscians meaning that they lose more money. This can also be a benefit as the more people download it the more people will know of it and the more they will become famous and well known. Also with fashion designers, the clothes that they design and create, othe brands can easily replicate it then sell it using there names. This is a benefit for us as we pay less however there is no benefit for the fashion designers as they must now share the profit with other designers. Movie makers also suffer a lost as when they produce their films people steal it and then share it cheaply or for free which benefits us but is terrible for the movie makers. Also movie cinemas also lose in this as people don't want to pay for a movie ticket when they can just watch it for free on a computer. The only benefit in this for movie makers is that there movie becomes well know and so do they. Authors also can be affected because anyone can read a book then re-write it 'differently' and sell it under their name. There is no benefits in this only negatives as the authors must share their profit and ideas.

Consumers: Consumer companies products do get stolen re-made and sold for less, but this won't affect them much as people will want the best quality and that is usaully the original. Re-makes usally taste less better than the original and also might not even be like the orginal. This means people will still buy their favourite brands and products.

Record Companies, Publishing Companies and Studios: Copyright Infringement affects Record Companies as there are now programs that let you do the same thing as you can do in a record company as well. This also occurs with publishing companies and studio's. They all lose out profits as its cheaper to use other programs, than to pay a company.

The Federal Government: The Federal Government acknowledges copyright because if there was no copyright law, Australia's economy would just plummet as everything in our nation would just become for free or just overly cheap. We would save alot of money, but whats the point of having money when there is nothing to spend it on. The current budget does include penalties for copyright and laws on it.

__**How does Copyright affect Prices on CD's, Concerts and Music Merchandise?**__ All these things are becoming less and less more expensive. Like with CD prices, music on a CD is just not seen anymore as it is so much easier and cheaper to just go on itunes and buy a song that you want or just get it for free. Prices for concerts haven't changed that much as nothing can beat the experience of seeing your favourite singer live right in front of you. People have become more lazy now though as you can just watch the music channels to see your favourite singers and listen to their songs. Music Merchandise has also become less expensive as companies can easily replicate a product and call it their own. An example of this would be t-shirts of a certain singer or band which could cost around $50-$100 someone could replicate put their name on it and sell it for $10. This is happening all over the world.