Copyright issues

Before this lecture I have always understood copyright as just a side note of the music and entertainment industry, but never understood the full magnitude of it. I learned that copyright laws are considered to be one of the most fundamental and important laws in America, dating back to 1790 before the Bill of Rights was written. As a college student I have also become more aware of copyright issues, particularly those that pertain to the music industry. I know a lot of people that have some sort of illegally downloaded music file on their computer, whether directly from the site or indirectly from other people who have shared their music libraries. This issue I have deals with the government’s policy on illegal downloading and sharing of music. Currently, the crime becomes a federal issue when the person has made 10 copies and a value of over $2500. This seems reasonable as copyright infringement is a major crime, but how does the federal government know they are taking in the right person. If a person shares a computer with a family member or did not know songs were illegally downloaded then they should not be convicted of the crime. Copyright laws should be in place, but a more thorough investigation should be done to pick out who actually is the offender.