RESEARCH TOPIC ABSTRACT
Copyright is a legal concept intended to give the creator of a work exclusive rights to it, for a limited time. The rights which a copyright holder has are generally (as the name implies), the right to make copies, but, they also include the right to recieve credit for the work, to decide who may adapt it, and who may financially benefit from it. Copyright initially only applied to books and other printed works, but with the advent of sound recording and digital technology, copyright has spread to all forms of media.
Copyright only lasts for a certain amount of time. After that, the work enters the public domain, and no one person or organization has control over it. Works under copyright, however, are subject to "fair use" guidelines, so while copyrighted works can be used (or, depending on the context, copied), there are limitations and exceptions.
The development of digital technology and peer-to-peer filesharing has made copyright violations, especially for music and movies, a prominent issue. The "Digital Millenium Copyright Act" amended the copyright laws in the late 1990s, and criminalized the production and dissemination of technology designed to circumvent protections against copyright infringement, as well as heightening penalties for copyright infringement over the internet. Currently, it is illegal to share and download music through peer-to-peer sharing programs, or just from the internet, unless the copyright holder has given permission for the media to be shared.