The Use of Piracy Websites and Illegal Media Use

Copyright is an important legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution; this applies both physically and digitally. This essay will argue how effective Copyright Law has been, therefore leading to the conclusion, copyright has proven to be effective, and as a result, clearly showing statement can be proven redundant; persuading in favour of Copyright Law in regards to the digital world. Undoubtedly, there are flaws in the enforcement of Copyright Laws which may lead one to jump to the conclusion it is incompatible with the digital world. Nevertheless, though no law- in the digital or material world is 100% effective, my essay will set out the many successes and usefulness of copyright law as a means to govern the online world. This is most notably exemplified through the dramatic increase in legal methods of accessing legally copyrighted material. The use of legal streaming services has been shown to directly collate with the decline in the use of Piracy website and illegal downloading online in general, hence logically leading to the strong conclusion that due to the work of online Copyright laws both consumers-conveniently and affordably can access content- while the rightful owners of copyrighted material continuously reap the economic benefits.

Without which they would not have had due to large amounts of piracy online for example in the music industry which has been steadily declining. In addition to this major factor, Copyright law is compatible with the digital world as it encourages small and developing Authors and production companies to share their work knowing the will ultimately reap an economic reward.This is especially important as by having an author feeling secure in creating work and giving it to the public, while simultaneously express gratitude. Furthermore, copyright law has been incredibly successfully enforced. This spans from several court cases to the rigid guidelines set out in most major Social networking sites regarding copyright law and infringement. This is especially significant as to imply "Copyright law is incompatible with the digital world" one could wrongfully imply that it is working ineffectively. In great contrast to this major and even minor infringement violations of copyright have consistently been treated seriously. Moreover, the consistently strong and effective enforcement of copyright law in the online world has been extremely helpful. In summary, though there are some cases in which the implementation has been slightly ineffective, the evidence would more overwhelmingly suggest Copyright Law is not only compatible with the digital world but a necessity in governing the online world.

The largest threat to most major owners of copyright: Music production companies, Television network companies and Major film organisations, is a violation of their copyright freely distributed instantly and on a global scale [3] (RIAA 2018) resulting in the great monetary loss. Though it is unlikely to our current day and age, to completely wipe some illegal material off the internet, Copyright Law has made It very difficult to be able to spread[7] (Bales 2017) hence resulting in a mass sway towards copyright approved online streaming service most successfully: Netflix, Amazon and Spotify[8] (Revoir 2017). This emphasises the importance in copyright law and undoubtedly shows the importance of online enforcement; without this, the companies states above would lose billions [3] (RIAA 2018) to the point where they could not run.

This change has been fuelled by the lack of practicality of the law through court order calling for ISP (Internet service provider) blockers on several major sites doing illegal copyrighted material [9] (Jackson 2017 ). Moreover, this is embodied in the recent Court case involving the entire 2017/18 Premier League season illegal streaming in which Kevin Plumb, Premier League Director of Legal Services, said "This blocking Order is a game-changer in our efforts to tackle the supply and use of illicit streams of our content," [10] (Plumb 2017). This one case is a part of a growing family of successfully blocked websites [5] (Maguire 2017). With this evidence considered, it is not at all surprising seeing the incline of legal means of viewing material online: 44 percent of internet users are using exclusively legal means, up from 39 percent at the end of 2015 [2] (Titcomb 2016).

Furthermore, this fully shows the significance of rigid copyright enforcement in the decrease of 18 percent illegal activity to a seemingly small but extremely significant 15 percent 2015 [2] (Titcomb 2016). The, move away from illegal methods shows how Copyright Law caters to the digital world, by fulfilling the demands of the digital age. Copyright Law being enforced has led to the desired outcomes. However, some may argue the inevitable presence of illegal file sharing sites weakens the validity of copyright law. the is especially poignant with the suspected estimate of 10% of music royalties lost to piracy [11] (Granados 2017) leading to major hits, especially for upcoming artists. Similarly, though massive court cases hold people accountable for arrest, for example, Pirate Bay cases in 2009 [12] (Bay 2017) however new sites continued to open up.

As a result, this may lead some critics to believe it is not realistic to expect the law to work and hence undermining its compatibility with the digital world. Nevertheless, no law is 100% enforceable, however, that does not take away from the fact that it has had major success shutting down illegal activities [13] (Pearson n.d.); without this, the situation for many companies could be much worse. Overall, Copyright Law has been responsible for the rise in streaming services- using legal means in order to access copyrighted material and hence consequently, in turn, the decreasing in illegal activity, this is strong basis for the importance of Copyright Law. Though there is still away to go before improving enforcement, the evidence suggests it is extremely valid to view Copyright Law as necessary and compatible with the digital age. The statement "Copyright law is incompatible with the digital world" would seem to suggest that both Copyright Law and the digital world would conflict so much that there would be no substantial victory in enforcing Copyright Law.

As a matter of fact, the very definition of the word incompatible would imply they are so different they could not co-exist. Nevertheless, the massive influence and power through the enforcement of Copyright Law stand testament to its compatibility and even its necessity the online world. The first way this is exemplified is through the use of many Court battles [5] (Maguire 2017)in which illegal websites are infringing on the owner's copyright by proving free services through either free illegal downloads or just illegal streaming websites. The most famous case of this would have to be the European Ban on Pirate Bay [14] (McGoogan 2017 ) which is especially significant as it is estimated that piracy costs movie studios $6.1 billion a year [15] (Greenberg 2015).If the statement was correct the locking down of such major players in illegal downloading communities would not have to deal punishment, however, the leaders of Pirate Bay were arrested and the European ban is in full effect with man obligatory ISP blocking. This links well to my prior point as it shows the contributions of Copyright Law being enforced the online world prompting mass sway towards more legal means to access content online, for example, Netflix and Amazon Movies [2] (Titcomb 2016). In addition to this, there is a significant amount of work by all major Social Media to enforce copyright through removing context at request of the owners and also through the strong boundaries set out in the terms and conditions of most of these social media platforms.

The significance of social media enforcing Copyright Law according to estimates, the number of worldwide social media users reached 1.96 billion and is expected to grow to some 2.5 billion by 2018 [16] (Statista 2018) which means the bounds for illegal sharing are massive. Facebook, for example, has technology that detects the unlawful use of an artist work ( for example music in the background or films being streamed illegally)and can remove the video and suspend accounts that disobey the boundaries set out in the Terms and Conditions [17] (Gaca 2016). This crackdown of illegal activities has effectively discouraged the use of any copyrighted work without permission which effectively fulfils the purpose of Copyright Law. This is not in any way unique just to Facebook. YouTube has a stunning record of controlling copyrighted material with a massive 27% of videos removed on average in a 24 hour period.

Not only do social media such as YouTube write their copyright policy in the Terms and Conditions [19] (Conditions 2018) the heavily implement them as the data would the suggest. Even with the one of the hardest copyright material to shut down- which would be live streaming on platforms such as Twitch and Periscope-there are rigours efforts especially on days with major televised event to remove these serves and enforce bans and occasional fines. These examples are all rooted in the effectiveness of Copyright Law despite the few challenges the compatibility is clearly evident. Despite this, critics such as Lawrence Lessig may argue the lines between rights and wrong in regards to online application of Copyright Law can be been called ‘impossible’ to understand [21]; and the penalties ‘astonishingly harsh’, Lawrence Lessig fails to acknowledge that disobeying the law does come with harsh repercussions however it undoubtedly promotes vigilance (Lessig 2004). This counter-argument is also especially weak as it is clear what it is clear what is considered if people took the time to read Terms and Conditions that articulate rules accessibly such as YouTube [19] (Conditions 2018).

Overall, the evidence suggests the overwhelming amount of success of Copyright Law carries out its purpose despite the challenge of the online world. As a result, it is logical to see the invalidity of the statement "Copyright law is incompatible with the digital world "and the huge impact and relevance of Copyright Law in the digital world. The compatibility of Copyright Law with the digital age can be distinctly seen through the encouragement of creative work through the reward aspect of Copyright. The rise in exclusive access of content; for example, audio-books and educational video access are all phenomenal examples of Copyright Law and the digital world co-existing. The hard work of the context creator is acknowledged which will inevitably motivate and even fund future plans. This demonstrates the power of the "Reward" element. In this way, Copyright is a legal expression of gratitude to the content.It would be degenerate and illogical for a content creator to not be able to provide for themselves for the sake of the work they produce. One small example of this would be the rise of Patron-a service that allows copyrighted material to be viewed by a paying audience- with 50,000 content creators in less than 4 years. This greatly benefits the smallest content creators support themselves and this coupled with my first argument about online streaming increasing creates a formidable ground in favour of Copyright Law and the digital age.

Without Copyright Law, one could not guaranty the internet would be as creative, vibrate and fair as it is now. Critics such as Tushnet may argue that due to the undeceive nature of Fan Fictions that the creativity is not encouraged under Copyright Law; therefore showing it is inherently a burden on creative progression. If Copyright Law encourages creativeness then it would not be so harsh on fans who infringe on the original owners right to control their work. This argument completely ignores the fact that majority of Fan Fictions are not taken down, rather issue usually only arise when profits are attempted to be made from them. In summary, the strong sense of reward for content creators undoubtedly contributes to a great amount of work shared online today. Therefore it is clearly in this way that Copyright Law is not only compatible with the challenges of the online world but responsible for the online worlds order and creativity and fairness. This essay has argued how effective Copyright Law has been, therefore leading to the strong founder and logical conclusion, copyright has proven to be effective, for the digital world but an unmatched source for order and creativity and fairness in the digital world. Though there are areas worth possibly improving to improve enforcement online. Nevertheless, though no law- in the digital or material world is 100% effective, the role of copyright law in improving the online world has been strong. This is most notably exemplified through the dramatic increase in legal methods of accessing legally copyrighted material.

The use of legal streaming services has been shown to directly collate with the decline in the use of Piracy website and illegal downloading online in general, hence logically leading to the strong conclusion that due to the work of online Copyright laws both consumers-conveniently and affordably can access content- while the rightful owners of copyrighted material continuously reap the economic benefits. In addition to this major factor, Copyright law is compatible with the digital world as it encourages small and developing Authors and production companies to share their work knowing the will ultimately reap an economic reward.This is especially important as by having an author feeling secure in creating work and giving it to the public, while simultaneously express gratitude through money they could use to even promote more work. Furthermore, copyright law has been incredibly successfully enforced. This spans from several court cases to the rigid guidelines set out in most major Social networking sites regarding copyright law and infringement. Moreover, the consistently strong and effective enforcement of copyright law in the online world has been extremely helpful. Undoubtedly, the compatibility of copyright law with digital age that been clearly demonstrated.