New prompt: Piracy

In our earlier unit on copyright, many of you jumped into discussions about piracy and its relationship to copyright issues, especially in the music industry. In this unit, we focus in more specifically on piracy and music and the impact piracy may or may not have on this industry. In particular, you'll watch a movie that investigates lots of issues related to copyright and music. The movie itself was made through crowdsourcing, with footage submitted from all over the world.

It's a fun movie that I'm certain you'll enjoy - please be sure to watch it.

So, for this week's post, discuss how this unit has extended your understanding of copyright issues, and particularly if these new readings and the movie have changed your thinking at all since our earlier study of copyright. Do you see evidence of the music industry being hurt by piracy? Do you see benefits to artists as the result of piracy? Where do you stand on the RIAA's efforts to curb illegal downloading?

Since college students are often the group doing the most music downloading (as many of you noted in your earlier posts!) they are also often the most likely to be hit with lawsuits or fines, so this topic particularly affects you!