Selfishness, The "Public Parts" Perspective on Copyright

I have to admit, before our class discussions I was unaware of the present issues our copyright laws create. I was aware of the inconvenience it caused when I really wanted a song that hadn't made it to Spotify yet or a tv show that I really needed to see the next episode but all of the links kept being removed due to copyright issues.  In Public Parts by Jeff Jarvis, Jarvis argues for the necessity of public sharing, both for success in business and in our personal lives. As you can imagine, he does not view copyright laws too fondly.

In fact, Jarvis compares the governments hunt for terrorists to their similar hunt for media use violators. He writes, "In 2011, the Obama administration proposed criminalizing unauthorized media streaming as a felony and empowering the FBI to fight it using wiretaps." Is copyright an issue that is threatening our nations security to the point where our rights to privacy can be violated? If so, I feel that some major reforms need to be made in regards to our copyright laws. Jarvis explains that much of prosecution on copyright violations come as a result of fear and companies trying to protect their ancient methods of doing business, as they refuse to change. He explains that this is something that happens all throughout time-people are reluctant (and lazy) to change their ways. When the radio began covering news, the traditional papers began to panic, same goes for when the tv came about. The papers complained that not only was the radio cutting into their sales, but it was violating their copyright. It's this selfish mindset of protecting what has been instead of adapting and rising to the new possibilities that creates the problems. Jarvis writes, "Other companies have attacked Google or Facebook instead of learning lessons from them. Yet more have threatened to extend copyright or hamper the doctrine of fair use to disadvantage newcomers." Content and distribution are no longer reigning in business, but relationships are.

I believe that copyright is still needed, that people should have the right to protect their work, yet the laws need to change as they are now being used to hinder progress, and to selfishly protect businesses that refuse to adapt.