Copyright Laws

As class goes on and I learn more and more about copyright laws, my opinion and knowledge of the subject changes. At first, I thought that copyright was simply just a law that stated that you could not copy someones pictures or music. After learning more about copyright, I found out that there is more to it than that.

Copyright is the legal rights of reproduction and distribution of an artist's work. If a work has a copyright law in effect, then you cannot make copies, distribute copies, write sequels of the work, or publicly display or perform without getting permission first. Although copyright laws are strict, there are some times when a work is considered fair use.

In today's world, it is important to know that copyright infringement still goes on. I am going to discuss a case in which Johnny Cash stole lyrics from Gordon Jenkins. Gordon Jenkins had a song on an album called "The Conductor". Johnny Cash then came out with a song that was very similar. When comparing the two, there were instances where Cash had some of the exact words and phrases from Jenkins's original song in his. Although many people may like Johnny Cash and think that he did a better job on the song, this was still not his work and taking it was against the law. Fifteen years after Cash's version of the song was released, Jenkins sued him. This case was going to the courts but then Cash and Jenkins settled the situation out of court which cost Cash thousands of dollars.

In this specific case Johnny Cash was breaking the law. He used lyrics that were made for Gordon Jenkins's song and claimed them to be his original work. In order for a songwriter to have the rights to another artist's songs, they have to get permission. This mistake that Cash made cost him thousands of dollars.

I do think that in this case Johnny Cash got what he deserved. The punishment was a large fine. He stole someones lyrics to use in his song, so I think he should have to pay for it. Hopefully people learned from his mistake and hopefully he will not do it again.