The Importance of Copyright Laws and More Laws

She is a 32-year-old mother of four. She lives in Minnesota. She downloaded and shared 24 songs. And now, she owes $1.92 million ($1,920,000) for what she had done!

The debates on whether or not copyright and democracy are compatible concepts are not new. It has been discussed since the 1700s and concerns a form of separation of powers. Copyright is a monopoly, but at the same time, when copyright came, it was a strike at another form of monopoly, the printers' rights, with their roots in the guild system. Copyright could not occur until censorship was abolished, and it can actually be seen as a complement to the freedom of expression. Copyright was early associated with privacy issues. However, if proportionality is not followed in the maintenance of law, both integrity and freedom of expression could be threatened.

Berliner & Associates is a full service International intellectual property law firm specializing in patent, trademark and copyright prosecution, licensing and litigation.