Worth Reading: We Are All Guilty of Piracy

The Internet was abuzz last week with reaction – much of it hysterical – to SOPA and PIPA, the copyright and intellectual property-related bills that were introduced to Congress late last year. Numerous high-profile companies and sites including Google, Facebook and Wikipedia are firmly opposed the bills, as it seems are the majority of those working in the digital media industry, judging by reaction on Twitter. As Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff points out, though, many people are confused about what actually constitutes piracy, and most of us – even copyright holders – violate copyrights routinely.

Digital piracy is frictionless and nearly riskless. We all do it. And all of us who create content are victims. We all value our own content more highly than content from others –that’s clear from the stories I’ve heard. Here’s the difference between fair use and a copyright violation: When I use your content it’s fair use. When you use mine, it’s a copyright violation.

Read the full article at AdAge.