Nowadays we are bombarded with news concerning lawsuits that companies and individuals initiated because of the violation of the copyright laws. The Internet appears to be applying more rigorous copyright policy as well, since a multitude of sharing sites have recently been heavily fined or have ceased to exist. However, some people still keep wondering why this policy is vitally important.
Firstly, copyright law has been introduced to protect the rights of the original authors of a book, film, software or any other unique creation. Without it any work would be subject to illegal copying, that is anyone would be able to steal your idea and claim it as their own. Needless to say, it is very frustrating to see that somebody takes the credit for all your hard work and effort and you are left at a loose end. As far as the financial side of the matter is concerned, illegal copying deprives the companies of their profit and can even make some smaller businesses go bankrupt, as they do not return the money invested in the project. However, you should not think that violating the copyright laws is only detrimental to the rightful owners of the idea or a project. It also has a negative effect on the customers, who use illegal copies, since the quality of the illegally copied product can be considerably lower and in case it is a pirate copy of software, you can not enjoy the customer support of the company or get updates.
On balance, copyright policy is an indispensable tool to avoid the violation of the author’s rights and ensure the high quality of the product. It is vital that we abide by this policy, if we want to live in a truly creative world.