Issues of Copyright, Piracy, and Cyber Crime

By

Obododimma Oha 

How can one discuss English studies and the computer in the current age without looking at such important issues as "copyright," "piracy," and "Cyber crime" ? These are central to the discourse and so in this lecture, we

 briefly look at them. What are they? Why should English studies bother

 about them? How can English studies check them? Generally, what do they entail for the discipline?

***
Copyright :

Copyright refers to ownership or authority of ownership. We infringe on it when we do not get permission to use something or think such permission is not necessary.

In other words  there is a legal right of ownership which has to be sought and obtained. Sub-disciplines like folklore and oral literature have a problem here. Even if the folksong is community-owned, it is wrong to use it in research without obtaining permission from the custodians. A similarity is the piracy or stealing of a song, probably refurbishing it and selling the album as one's original creation.

Copyright, therefore, tells us not to rob Peter to pay Paul. It is about ownership of property and should have rules. It is not hard to ask for permission. It may be something not requiring a fee or just a bottle of gin.

Piracy:

We had hinted above that piracy is a modern violation of right of  ownership in cultural production.

See also

https://m.economictimes.com/definition/piracy

Piracy is the illegal reproduction of the original and genuine work as one's own and making gains from it. In other words, it is stealing and occurs mainly in relation to

-- musical  albums and videos
-- books
-- etc

A pirate is treated as a criminal. Recall how heartless and brutal the pirates of the Caribbean or of *Treasure Island* are. These are analogical, telling us how bad piracy is. It is a violation of copyright

Some negative effects of piracy:

(1) Deprivation of the proper owners of the enjoyment of fruits of labor.
(2) The real owners of the work are demoralized and discouraged.
(3) Production of genuine works may be discontinued.
(4) It becomes a source of societal denigration for it may be assumed that fraud in such a society is pronounced.

Cybercrime:

A cybercrime is an illegal act committed with access to the Internet and often perpetrated by gangs operating in hiding from cyber cafes. Obviously, the design is mainly to dispossess someone. It is comparable to the wiles of the traditional trickster trying to outwit a target who may be a bigger beast.

Consult:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/cybercrime

Can you see how privacy of communication and vanishing of distance can become problems eventually?

Why English Studies Should Be Concerned :

As we could see, English is affected and should be concerned.

How English is affected :

(1) The discipline uses data involving securing permission. This permission has to be sought and obtained.
(2) The discipline trains people who know the importance of ownership. It should, therefore, join in making them see why they should not be involved in violations of copyright and criminality in the use of ICT.
(3) Assignments submitted in English may be taken directly from the Internet. This terrible plagiarism is happening right where people are being trained on the use of texts. It is, therefore, highly condemnable. Teachers in English can help to check  it by reading and checking what is submitted to them for evaluation. A sịmple check of a sentence on Google can help   if plagiarism checkers are not reachable.

***

Implications for the discipline :

The infringement on copyright, piracy, and cyber crime have  very serious implications for the study of English. We could identify and list some of these implications as follows :

(1) ICT has many advantages for learning but it has risks we should look out for or prepare adequately for.
(2) Disciplines like English theorizing on texts should be concerned about how the text could be manipulated to deceive with the coming of ICT.

***

Copyright, piracy, and cyber crime are very serious matters we should put in the forefront as we talk of how ICT has transformed language and literature.

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