Matthew’s Thoughts on Copyrights and Patents

 

For young entrepreneurs today there is a mounting issue that does not seem to be going away any time soon. While the general public may not be aware trolls are controlling our current patent system, and no I do not mean the type that you see under a bridge. These patent trolls are companies and wealthy individuals that file vague patents so that they can sue inventors who may accidently create something that a troll has a patent on. For this exact reason our patent and copyright system is currently in danger and while it may seem like we have a great system, the companies with more money and power are stopping inventors from having creative freedom, due to the fear of companies taking all profits. This idea is lengthened upon in The Economist article “Trolls on the Hill”. The reason I began to open with the facts of patent trolls is because I believe this is vital information in the understanding of patent and copyright analysis. Not only do we see issues in inventions, but also in the media industry there has been a shift away of how to handle fraud and stealing of property.

Currently if I was to log online I would have the ability to illegally download books, movies, and TV shows, all three goods that usually cost a lot to purchase.  With the surfacing of Internet piracy, firms have moved away from outright purchases of shows to subscription services that stream the shows to any device. For these reasons media conglomerates don’t see a need to care about piracy, due to advanced advertising techniques they make all the money they need through streaming, substantially driving down costs for songs, movies, and TV shows. But one major form of mass-market entertainment, books are keeping their prices at a high cost. Due to the fact streaming books is not widely done, books are not held in the same pricing scheme as other media. While books are cheaper to produce there is not true way to reap the same profits from books and movies. The difference in means of profits creates a divide between the two.

Now when it comes to valuating a patent or a piece of media what truly decides it is how well the item will end up selling for. While it may be the easy way out to say the market decides a price, they truly do decide the price. By either buying or not buying a product at a certain price the market lets the companies know whether or not it was an acceptable price. To say an idea has value also hold meaning considering if a concept is great then people will pay a lot for the idea, and they will pay for a great concept even if it doesn’t work out. When dealing with patents and copyrights it’s a difficult situation due to the fact that people’s ideas and livelihoods are truly at stake when they put them into copyrights or patents. In the next few years due to technological advances I expect a reform of the patent and copyright market.

Surviving the Scandal: Intellectual Property and Instant Downloading

Click-download. That seems to be it nowadays. When people desire to watch a movie or listen to music, it seems that the only requirement is to type the name into the search bar of their computer. In America, films, music and even ideas are supposed to be protected by Intellectual Property rights. But how can our rights be protected, when it only takes seconds to download those items for free? It seems that in this era, with the growth of modern technology, our rights have not caught up to the development of online distribution. So is Intellectual Property worth anything anymore?

There are many approaches that typically determine the value of intellectual property. Yet, with each approach, there is a consistency: the value of intellectual property depends on either future income expected or comparable transactions. When both these factors are artificially lowered due to illegal access, then do they still offer a valid approach of valuing intellectual property? Or even more importantly, how do we protect the ideas that generate employment and income for so many Americans?

Some argue that the answer lies with the enforcement of stricter laws to punish those who either upload or download files? But I contend that the World Wide Web is just that: World Wide. To attempt and punish every act of illegal piracy could be nearly impossible and definitely not cost effective.

Others argue that the medium of an idea determines whether or not piracy can occur as frequently. Consider books. How is it that when music and movies are shared instantly, it is much harder to download a book illegally? Well that’s because no one wants to scan in every page of a book in order to put it up online. And if they do, the quality of that book is often not the same as reading it in their hands. Therefore, people would rather pay the extra money to own the book legally.

The piracy business will never be shut down no matter how many web sites get taken down. The law of supply and demand shows that if you want to minimize supply then you have to minimize demand.  Yes, this could mean that legal music/movies would have to be made cheaper, so as to stop illegal downloads. But if you think about it, books are cheaper than movies and music; maybe that’s why the intellectual property rights on them are much more secured?

In my opinion, authors, and those creative owners of ideas, will have to embrace that sharing ideas is a part of life and a part of business. It is very difficult to place value on an idea and even more difficult to protect that idea. The industry of illegal downloading and piracy will never disappear completely. It is something that will always exist; much in the way crime can never completely be eliminated.  With that in mind, industries need to look to grow with technology instead of against it. Filing a lawsuit against your customer doesn’t seem like the brightest idea. However, licensing websites the way radios were license could be a fair compromise. The future of technology is something that is hard to foresee. With online distribution, ideas are no longer “safe kept” but then again, were they ever? Going against the trend wont help any artist survive the “surf” known as online piracy. Working with them may be their only hope.