Reasoning of the Law

Using someone’s work without their permission is against the law. “Anyone who uses copyrighted material without permission is violating the Copyright Act. To prove a violation, the plaintiff must present evidence that the work was original.” (Beatty & Samuelson pg.507) Most of the movies that are now coming out are not original ideas. So of course there are going to be films that seem to have the same plot but it’s not copyright infringing. “Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa, and Freaky Friday—are about a parent and child who switch bodies. The movies all have the same plot, but there is no copyright violation because their expressions of the basic idea are different." (Beatty & Samuelson pg.506) Copyrights even extend to protecting song writers, or even the music they write. Did you know if they have written it it’s theirs, “if she whistles a happy tune without writing it down, the song is not copyrighted, and anyone else can use it without permission."{Beatty & Samuelson pg.506) If you wish to bring suit to your copyright it must be registered. The copyright sign is just something authors still do and lawyers advise you continue to use the copyright sign, "Lawyers still recommend using the copyright symbol because other countries recognize it." (Beatty & Samuelson pg.506) Copyrights have been around for more than 300 years ago. "On April 10, 1710, Queen Anne of England approved the first copyright statute. Called the Statute of Anne, it provided copyright protection for 14 years."(Beatty & Samuelson)The Queen also allowed the copyright to be renewed for another 14 years if the copyright owner was still alive. For many years people have been coming up with great work and the Queen saw fit to help others protect their work and The Statue of Anne gave you that chance. Without rules and Law what would be are reasoning for living people would just do bad things to others and there must be something set up to help the little people that are trying to follow their dreams. No one deserves to get run over.