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But Isn't It Different on the Web?The argument that the Web is different really doesn't hold water. OK, it is easy to scan something and put it online, and it's even easier to download something from a Website, but then video recorders are ubiquitous and there is nothing easier than to record a TV programme or even, given a second VCR, than to copy an existing tape. Unless, of course, it is to record a CD, radio programme, vinyl disk or audio-cassette onto cassette tape. The fact that the technology to make committing a crime easier exists does not mean that the crime should be legalised. Having just watched an AA patrol breaking the steering lock on my car and hot-wiring it when my key snapped in the door lock miles from anywhere, I could now quite easily do the same to almost any other car. I have the technology - a screwdriver and a big hammer. No one would surely argue from that that car-theft should be legalised! The Web has not made the copyright laws outmoded, just more difficult to police. I am prejudiced. I'm a writer. I am paid for writing, whether it's a piece of journalism or a full-length play. As a writer, I get extremely annoyed if anyone uses my work without my permission and without paying for it. I don't give a damn if they credit me fully or not. If they are using my work without permission, I want them stopped and I want reparation. I am not going to be put off by a notice which says, "If the copyright holder contacts me, I will take this off the site." It is the duty of anyone who wishes to use any of my writing to find out how to contact me and then make the approach. If it's something from this site, my email address is easily found. If it's something I've done for a newspaper or magazine, it's easy enough to contact the publication Does that sound unreasonable? Just replace "something I have written" with "my TV set", or "my car", or "my money", and ask if it still sounds so! I have a very firm policy on copyright, both my own and other people's. I will not use someone else's work on this site without their permission - simple!. But we're helping them! I have heard the excuse advanced that, by setting up, say, a show site with logos and pictures and extracts, the Webmaster/mistress is actually helping the show's producers by giving them free advertising. It is, I agree, a compelling argument. I suspect that quite a number of producers, actors and theatres whose copyright has been infringed in this way will go along with this argument and simply allow the site(s) to continue. That is their choice, a choice which they are entitled to make. It does not, however, alter the fact that such use is illegal and that they are entitled to compensation for it, if they so choose. What about Internet freedom? Isn't the Net a bastion of freedom? Certainly, but there are different kinds of freedom. We all should - although, regrettably, some don't - have the right to freedom of speech, but there is also the freedom to enjoy the fruits of one's labours. Both of these freedoms should be protected by law, as should all freedoms. Shouldn't information be free? Definitely, but there is no reason why the packaging of that information should be free. If a TV news company sends a crew to Chechnya and brings back a report full of pictures of the conflict, then the information contained within that report is free for anyone to use, but the pictures aren't, nor are the words of the reporters. Next page The Law of Copyright in the UK Articles Indices:
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