With more platforms and mediums being available to content producers, a larger crowd

of individuals have been able to step forth as new developers, with goals to reach a level of
success equal or greater than the innovators that inspire them. Access to things like the media,
crowd funding, and social networking services gives content creators a chance to bring their
ideas to proper fruition, so that it can be sold to the purchasing market. Some other industries
like entertainments are also built on the fair use of content produced by different industries. But
the market is not entirely built on honesty. There are those who attempt to obtain their own
crowd through the exploitation of the success other have obtained. At times, some give the
thief business because they lack the knowledge of the differentiation of the original product.
Others however, see the alternative as a more financially savvy choice. As a result, laws and
expectations have had to been established to protect the creators from the theft of their material.
But the level of protection has become blurry with different interpretations of copyright. There
are those who get away with all types of infringement and are deemed innocent or exempt from
any judgment, and there are those who are punished for a misinterpreted fair use. Copyright and
Fair Use as a concept heavily require a restructure of definition so that all are able to understand
the boundaries of intellectual property, as well as a restructure of the justifications that allow
producers who need to make use of the content of others, within set limits.
According to the Ohio State University (OSU), copyright is best interpreted as the legal
protection of all forms creative expression on any form of media. It stands without reason that a
person would want to secure the rights, as copyright infringement and piracy stands as some of
the most hazardous threats to certain companies. With the introduction of peer-to-peer file
sharing services, sales and profits in the music industry over the years have experienced a fifty
percent drop, resulting in the loss of a large number of jobs. Copyright is intended to allow

owners to recoverdamages (Hrobak) Video and film industries suffer an approximate 3

billion USD in loss annually, due to piracy (OSU). Within the boundaries inside of a nation like
the United States, copyright manages to punish violations. When it comes to dealing with the
copyrights and infringement of different systems and nations, varying legalities can create a
standstill that one party profits while the other suffers at the success of the other. One of the
most, infamously known countries for violating international copyrights is China, which has had
some of the highest numbers of piracy and illegal distribution. Their government has a strict
system of censorship and product control. Any information or product produced within the nation
undergoes harsh regulation, and it makes it difficult for copyrighted material to go in and out of
the nation. But due to their penalties for copyright infringement resulting mostly in low
deterrencedamages it does not discourage piracy and violation of intellectual property
entirely. However, some scholars disregard their poor economic condition, as what can lead to
such high numbers of piracy. They would even go as far as to say as every member of the social
classes legally purchase and interact with products proportionally to one another. (Priest) What
makes enforcing copyright so challenging to enforce and enact is the varying interpretations of
varying boundaries like those seeking to protect their interests desire a type of copyright
which weakens the protection of creative consumers making their own user generated
content. Thus, such an interpretation of the law would be allowing them to call for infringement
at their leisure (Bartow). Making sure content producers hold their proper credits and authority is
important, but the consumer must be allowed the chance to make fair use of copyrighted material
within limits.
The purchase of a copyrighted product does not give a person absolute ownership of the
intellectual property. Owning the product acts as a license to the owned item. The direct use of

a copyrighted work, unchanged in any manner, can only occur with the producers given consent,
or if the item used is public domain.(OSU) Fair use is regarded as one of the exceptions in
copyright which allows use of copyrighted materials without obtaining permission as long as the
use can be considered fair. (Purdue) To determine what falls under fair use, some weigh the
factors involved in the work, and if those factors are favoring fair use.(Crews) It acts as
something meant to be flexible so any form of expression can be protected. Fair use does
take into account the different characteristics that define a work using copyright material (Snow)
Usage of material in the parody context falls under the blurry line of fair use(cl law.) But many
involved with other media rely on fair use, with the intentions of producing their own type of
content such as criticismteachingor research. Furthermore, copyrighted material cannot be
used in its entirety. It must only be used in a fair portionused in relation to the copyrighted
work. One cannot claim the material they use as their own, and even then, all rights and respects
have to be given out at some point during the work. (Austin) Some companies understand that
their audience demands fair use, and can even provide an open source platform with base
samples of their previous content, so that people may alter it in any way they see fit to bring a
vision to life. However, certain obstacles can inhibit the consumer-producer relationships, such
as enforcements of protection for intellectual properties. Some partner companies can hold a high
level of influence over others, and the fair use is cut off. Then the audience is punished in the
same vain as individuals who purposely violate copyright. Customers expect a mutual level of
respect, and any violation of that alienates that trust. Fair use has to be solidified that everyone
has equality. A vague, open-ended interpretation cannot exist, because it can be viciously unfair
to some, and unfairly advantageous to others.

While changes cannot be made immediately, people can take advantage of the
information available on the internet. By the use of search engines, people can narrow and
identify if any data they are searching for has the given consent of public use, and if so, to what
the extent does the fair use reach. There exists an organization known as Creative Commons,
who have a platform that allows for content creators to make their products available, and
personally define what changes can be made. The aspects indicate if a work can be reproduced,
altered, or remade in anyway, if it can be used with the intent of commercial production, and
what credits need to be given (Creative Commons). There are people who go about and attempt
to make copyright material their own with the desire for the profit they desire. But labeling an
entire audience as thieves, pirates, criminals, is dangerous. It risks casting a shadow of suspicion
on the innocent, and when all doubts are cleared, turns them away from wanting to support a
project any further.