Free «Downloading Music» Essay Sample

Research Question: Is downloading music and movies from the Internet illegal and does it affect the music and movie industry.

Why it Matters: Most people download music and movies from free Internet websites. Consumers prefer to download one song from a particular album instead of buying the whole album from registered vendors. The Copyrights Act states that it is illegal to distribute the works of a particular artist without his/her consent. Illegal downloads have caused massive losses to movie production companies and musicians. It is sad that these illegal sites are making profits by stealing the works of other artists. Twilight and The Hangover failed to attain their target profits because of illegal downloads. The government should enforce strict rules to try all the people who commit the crime of illegal download so that it discourages piracy.

Tentative Thesis: Downloading music from the Internet is illegal and it is affecting the music and movie industry.

Sources

Gautham, N. Film industry lauds. Web crackdown on violators of federal copyright law; letter praises shutdown of domains spreading pirated movies, TV shows. The Hill, 18. 30 March, 2011.

Gautham describes the losses that movie companies made due to illegal download. From his research, he found out that people had downloaded 20 million copies of Star Trek movie and Transformers causing Paramount pictures huge losses. He discovered that Viacom studios had reduced its profits by $ 535 million due to illegal download. This source is credible since it is from The Hill, which is a respected publication. It only publishes articles after its editors evaluate the strength of their credibility. This source might fit in my paper since it will help me cite the figures of the losses that companies suffered due to internet piracy.

Jost, K. Should consumers download music and movies for free? 10 (33), 2000. Web. 22 March 2012

He explains on how music companies have tried to bring legal suits in an attempt of stopping the operations of these companies. He further describes how the copyright law changed after the digital millennium and it now allows consumers to make copies of sound recordings as long as they are not for commercial use. This source is credible since I accessed it from the university research guide. In addition to this, the author got his research materials from books written by experienced scholars in the field of copyright law. This source fits in my paper. It will help me to identify examples of Internet companies that promote illegal sharing of movies and music. It will be useful to me since it will show me how examples of companies that have been affected by illegal download.

Lauria, P. Paramount pirated: 20 M illegal of hit films Sap Viacom Unit. New York Post. 26 December 2011. Print

In this article, Lauria explains how Russell Sprague pleaded guilty in the District Court of Los Angeles due to posting copies of movies supplied by Academy Awards. The author explains how Russell can be found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison because of infringing copyright law. This source is credible since it is from New York Post, which is a respected publication. The author of this article has a good experience in research. This source fits in my research since it will give me practical examples on how courts are trying to stop online piracy due to its effects to music and movie industry

Motion Picture Association of America. Movie Piracy is Copyright Infringement. 2009. Web. 22 March 2012.

In this article, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) argues that anybody who copies, distributes, sells or distributes copyrighted material without permission from the owner infringes the copyright laws. This article also explore the measures that MPAA have adopted in order to reduce piracy such as fining people who commit this crime $30000 to $150000 or jailing them for 5 years. Furthermore, it gives the forms of piracy that include signal theft, theatrical print theft and optical disc piracy. This article is credible since I accessed it through the library research guide. The authors also conducted extensive research from books on internet piracy and periodicals. This source fits in my research paper since it gives the different forms of piracy that occur over the internet. It also helped me in finding decided cases on Internet piracy.

Recording Industry Association of America. Illegal file sharing threatens the future of the music industry: What is the future of the music industry? , 2009. Web.  2 March 2012.

In this article, Recording Industry Association of America review what the law says about uploading or downloading copyrighted material from the internet. This article argues that if a person copies copyrighted music recording then he/she is breaking the law and he/she may be held liable for damages. However, the article claims that it is legal to download materials from sites authorized by the owners. This article is credible. I accessed it from the university research guide. Furthermore, the author conducted his research from decided court cases about piracy law. This source fits in my research paper since it shows what the law says about illegal downloads. It points out the different ways of how a person commits piracy by sharing music, movies and even software.