Intellectual Property and the Future of the Music Industry Essay

Corruption, Conscience, and CopyrightThe Current State of Intellectual Property and the Future of the Music Industry straight offs pirates operate not on the high seas but on the Internet, in illegal CD factories, distribution centers, and on the street. The pirates creed is still the same--why pay for it when its so easy to steal? The credo is as wrong as it ever was. Stealing is still illegal, unethical, and all likewise frequent in todays digital age. That is why RIAA Recording Industry Association of America continues to fight music piracy. RIAA.comThe human conscience is a powerful tool. And if you ar like most Americans, you probably consider yourself to be a rather moral person, at least based upon your own morality, your own conscience. Chances are, however, that you have industrious in some form of illegal activity during your life speeding down a familiar road, jaywalking across an empty street, driving with a down in the mouth blinker. Assuming you consider yoursel f to be of high moral stature, how does your conscience reconcile this? The answer the unlawful does not always imply the unethical, and that which is illegal is not of necessity immoral.Since the digital revolution in the 1990s, the downloading of copyrighted music has skyrocketed. The Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA, has denounced music piracy, claiming that it is both illegal and immoral. And they drive a hard bargain, rock the following1. Downloading music is against the law.2. Downloading music betrays the songwriters and recording artists who create it.3. Downloading music stifles the careers of new artists and up-and-coming bands.4. Downloading music threatens the livelihood of the thousands of working people who are em... ...ec_39_00000201----000-.htmlBlackburn, David. On-line plagiarisation and Recorded Music Sales. Dec. 2004. http//www.katallaxi.se/grejer/blackburn/blackburn_fs.pdfCD Baby. Who/What are we? http//cdbaby.com/aboutHolahan, Catherine . Downloading Musics New Deal. Business Week Online. Oct. 31, 2006. p8-8, 1p. Leach, Eric and Henslee, Bill. Follow the Money Whos Really Making the chou? Nov. 1, 2001. http//emusician.com/mag/emusic_follow_money_whos/index.htmlLessig, Lawrence. The Limits of Copyright. June 19, 2000. http//www.lessig.org/content/standard/0,1902,16071,00.htmlMcCourt, Tom, and Burkart, Patrick. When Creators, Corporations and Consumers Collide Napster and the Development of On-line Music Distribution. 2003. Sage Publications.Music United. Why You Shouldnt Do It. http//www.musicunited.org/4_shouldntdoit.html