The purpose of this tool is to help people become more aware of the dangers of copyrighting and the significance of copyrighting your own writings. After explaining to people who may not fully understand what is copyrighting  we will start helping writers avoid certain mistakes such as taking information that’s not their own and causing them problems regarding imitations of others work. Before we show you how this research tool works lets discuss some helpful articles that my group and I read that will better help explain the importance of copyrighting .

The first article we came across talked about schools in Maryland that were considering the idea of copyrighting students and teachers work. Having students essays or drawings being copyrighted and teachers lesson plans as well. The idea of the school having ownership of the work you took time to create seems slightly unfair. Although the article says some universities have already started doing it with college students. The article goes on to explain that they’re slightly skeptical on one hand because they believe that it will suppress the originality of the students and the teachers ideas. (The Capital, Annapolis, MD, February 5, 2013)

The second article we found discussed the top ten myths it is captioned “10 big myths about copyrighting” To summarize this article it shows 10 basic misunderstandings in regards to copyright, so whether or not it has a notice most things have a copyright on them. When people don’t charge for what they have they usually believe they are not making any copyright violation which is not true. If someone posts to the internet doesn’t necessarily mean it is for the public to use freely. Templeton states that with the fair act people aren’t allowed to use part of the material to get away with paying to reproduce it. Just because you don’t defend your work doesn’t mean you have lost the rights to it. Also he states that people think just because they got an email copy they can use it themselves. (Brad Templeton, October 2008)

Another article we found talked about “Is Copyright Dead on the Net?” Lance rose states that in this day and time copyright has been threatened due to the free sharing and posting through the net. He also states that we aren’t able to share any work without expressed by the owner to do so. Most of the users who re-publish work on the internet reason with doing so by claiming fair use. Congress is also threatening people who violate copyright laws with prison time which helps the software industry greatly. The question is will people continue to use the material and claim fair use or will there be a way to put a stop on it? (Lance Rose)

Last but not least we read an article that raises the question “Does Copyright Matter”The article talks about how important copyright is, as a policy and as a form of protection for an author’s work. For authors and writers, copyright is important to them as a means of securing their income and protection for their intellectual property. Copyright gives the writer a considerable financial incentive, especially when the author of the article says, “Imagine copyright were phased out or became impossible to enforce in any meaningful way; you can’t expect an advance from a publisher, you can’t even sell your work directly to readers online.” The lack of copyright would mean that writing would no longer be a job, leaving one with the only option of being a “big-time celebrity”. (Tim Parks, August 14,2012)

Now that there is better understanding of what Copyrighting is and how it works. “Let’s Start taking possession of our own work. ” Feel free to check out our website for more information !!

Bibliography

• School copyright proposal prompting concern; Maryland school system proposing copyrighting work by staff, students. (n.d.). Retrieved February 2, 2013, from http://www.lexisnexis.com.citytech.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sf&sfi=AC00NBGenSrch
• Parks, T. (n.d.). Does Copyright Matter? Retrieved August 14, 2012, from http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2012/08/14/does-copyright-matter/
• Templeton, Brad. “10 Big Myths about copyright explained.” Http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html. N.p., Oct. 2008. Web. 18 Dec. 2016.
• Ross, Lance. “Is Copyright Dead on the Net?” Https://www.wired.com/1993/05/1-5-copyright-on-net/ 1 May 1993: n. page. Print