Copyright Presentation

I thought the presentation about plagiarism and copyright laws was really interesting. Before the presentation I wasn't really clear on some of the copyright laws. I learned a lot about what the RIAA is, how they address illegal file-sharing, and the consequences for doing so. One of the most interesting points was that many professors sell their articles to peer-review journals without understanding what that entails. The publishers that buy these articles charge Universities for using the articles depending on how many people will be viewing them. Even the professor who wrote the article can no longer print and hand out copies free of charge. I found this situation to be pretty upsetting. Many professors sign their contracts without fully realizing the consequences. From the professors point of view, the articles should be made available for education since it was written for that purpose. The publishers feel that since they are a business and a contract was signed, they have every right to charge a fee to universities per each person using the article. I understand that the publishers are in business to make money, but with education as a priority and tuition on the rise, something needs to be done. I think it is important that faculty realize what they are signing and the affect it has on access to current educational material. It would be best to reach a compromise in which the publishers make a small profit and educational institutions pay significantly less than they are currently.