Making a Stand
for Copyright Law
in the Wild West of Cyberspace

byDiana West
Copyright © 1999 by Diana West.
No portion of this text may be copied or reproduced in any manner,
electronically or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author.

Although legal protection for intellectual property was granted to US citizens over two hundred years ago in the first Article of the U.S Constitution, few people seem to understand exactly what a copyright is. And among those who do understand and who exhibit tremendous respect for "real world" copyrighted works, such as books and musical scores, many do not think copyright protection applies to cyberspace. For this reason, Congress went to the deliberate effort of creating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) in 1998 to specifically address this issue. This Act reinforces and clearly defines copyright law in the context of the Internet.

A copyright is such a profound and basic right. The protection of intellectual property ownership is essential in a capitalistic society. The founding fathers of the United States felt so passionate about this issue that they established protection of intellectual property in the very first Article (Section 8) of the Constitution. International legislators have likewise definitively validated intellectual property rights by the Berne Convention and Universal Copyright Convention. This is not a casual point of law and there are no minor infractions.

It is a common misconception in the US that copyright protection exists only when a copyright notice, such as the one above under the title of this work, is posted by the work that it protects. This understanding is left over from the old US 1976 Copyright Act that did indeed definitively correlate copyright protection with a proper copyright notice. However, in 1989, the US amended the Act to be consistent with the Berne Convention international copyright law that states that a work is copyrighted as soon as it is transferred from a person's mind to any tangible medium, including the Internet. From that point forward, US law recognized that one need not post a copyright notice for the copyright to exist. It is inherent. A notice is an appropriate statement of copyright protection, but rather than establishing that protection, it merely serves to remind those who might be tempted to steal it that doing so is illegal.

One can officially register the copyright for a work, but doing so is not necessary for the owner of the work to enjoy the rights and privileges of copyright. In order to sue for copyright infringement reparation in Federal court, however, the work must be registered. In fact, the registration can take place after an alleged infringement has occurred, which further substantiates the inherent nature of the copyright.

Some people feel that an author should be flattered when her work is imitated. Perhaps she would be if it were only a matter of imitation. But infringement of a copyrighted work is outright theft. Someone has taken something that she owned -- that she personally created -- and represented it to be his own -- that he personally created. This is a lie and it is theft. It does not matter where it occurs. The principle is not less valid because it occurs in cyberspace rather than in printed media.

Copyright law must be defended on the Internet because it is the single largest forum for the exhibition of intellectual property in the history of mankind. If we do not make a stand and insist that creative works be protected, that the laws established to protect them be enforced, then looting will become widespread and commonplace - the accepted norm. None of our online businesses, which are comprised not of walls but mainly of words, will be safe. So many small, homemade sites will be vulnerable. So many people who do not know their rights and don't know how to defend themselves, or cannot afford to, will be vulnerable. We must not let this happen.

Because the technology makes plagiarism amazingly easy, especially when digital watermarks are not used, the Internet often seems to be a "free for all" to many people -- a "wild west" of sorts where civilized laws don't apply. I have often been inspired by the words of Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." This truth is especially applicable to cyberspace. As we did in the American West in the late 20th century, we must now impose civil responsibility to this new territory. The onus is upon each citizen to advocate our highest societal principles and compel adherence to the laws of intellectual property so that the Internet will be a civilized region, safe even for our children to explore.

Make no mistake: The action of each person will have a profound impact. Each author who respects the inherent rights of copyright owners, including her own, will exponentially expand civilization to this infinite region. It will be an unceasing, but essential responsibility. As in all things, the precedent we establish today will become the accepted standard tomorrow.

Diana West is a stay-at-home mother of three children, a La Leche League Leader, the author of Defining Your Own Success: Breastfeeding After Breast Reduction Surgery, published by La Leche League International.

Diana is also the creator and owner of the internet's first virtual consignment shop for mommy and baby goods, Mothers' Online Thrift Shop (MOTS). MOTS was a unique and wonderful place for consignments of gently-used mommy and baby goods.

by Diana West
Copyright © 1999 by Diana West.
No portion of this text may be copied or reproduced in any manner,
electronically or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author.