All the MP3s I download are paid for, just not by me

Presenter: Jon Colmer

Date: 23/11/11
Should Intellectual property rights for music be maintained?

With the rise of the internet, and increases in technology (faster broadband) the costs of sharing music have dramatically declined. Is this a good thing? Should more resources be spent on monitoring and enforcing file sharing or should intellectual property for music be abandoned?

Who does current copyright protection benefit?  The consumers and creators of music, or record companies and music publishers?

Would reductions in copyright protection reduce the incentive to create good music in the future? 

If copyright protection was to be reduced, to what degree should this apply to other forms of media, i.e. television, film, literature?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/03/internet.intellectualproperty

http://www.irs.princeton.edu/pubs/pdfs/499.pdf

http://mortimer.fas.harvard.edu/concerts_01oct2010.pdf

http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2008/08/19/is-file-sharing-morally-wrong/

http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/napster.htm