After reading the various articles on issues of copyright in the digital age, the issue and how to solve it remains just as confusing and problematic in my mind. I think there are two broad issues that are problematic - how exactly to define what violates fair use, and how the law is meant to be enforced.
Knowing when copyright laws are violated is something someone can sense, even though we lack a set of rules to say how many words or lines must be copied for copyright infringement to occur. The current laws are extremely broad, which means that they probably cover every case of copyright infringement, while also deeming many legal acts illegal. It is no secret that copyright infringements occur on a daily and hourly bass in America, but the majority of the minor violations are never prosecuted. Is there a better way for us to define copyright laws, so that they are not overly broad but still protect original works sufficiently? (Just as a side note, websites generate revenue from visitors and ads, not by you buying an actual book, which is why thy are more hesitant about their content being reproduced. How can companies work to allow people to use and reproduce their content while not losing the web traffic they need for financial survival?)
While it would be nice and good practice to have a clear and precise definition of what copyright infringement is, before the digital age this did not make much of a difference, since copyright infringements could slide by. The problem with the broad definition of copyright becomes more challenging and worrisome with the widespread use of the Internet. It is easier for people to violate copyright laws online, yet it could also become easier for the government and those wanting to protect their works to enforce the stringent copyright laws which are currently enacted.
Whereas it is hard to regulate small copyright infringements that occur offline, it is much easier to do so online. Companies trying to protect certain information, or even the United States Patent Office, could set up search bots to find any small instance of copyright infringement. It would not be too difficult to enforce strict copyright laws online, and this could have a large detrimental impact on our free culture. Given this dilemma, what is the most appropriate way to enforce copyright laws online?