History of bootlegging Essay Example for Free

History of bootlegging Essay 1. Background on Bootlegging It has been said that â€Å"at its real level music belongs to everyone†. To claim ownership over music has been the subject of much analysis since music, after all, is available to each individual through our sense of hearing. Maintaining control or possession of â€Å"our† music is not as clear cut as meting out our rights to our land or property. To listen to a song someone else has written, for instance, does not necessarily constitute stealing or trespassing on someone else’s property. The best way to ensure our right and title over our musical creations is to get a copyright over the original piece. Yet it is not uncommon for a listener or a music lover or fan to record a favorite song or a particularly memorable concert attended. People record songs, concerts, and videos and keep such recordings for personal use, or make copies thereof to give to their friends. Songs and videos are also easily downloaded from the Internet. Fans also record different songs and performances, from different albums or concerts, into one CD or online play list to make their own personal collection. The problem is when such recordings are distributed and sold for profit without the artist and the record company’s consent. Generally, copyright violations involving musical creations may be distinguished into three different types : 1) professional counterfeit recordings (unauthorized duplication of sound and art work) 2) professional pirate recordings (unauthorized duplication of the sound, but with original art work, usually sold as â€Å"greatest hits† compilations 3) bootleg recordings (unauthorized recording of live performances) Bootlegging, as it was traditionally defined, involves â€Å"the illegal distribution or production of liquor and other highly taxed goods† In the 1920s, the United States had a Prohibition against alcohol, thus people resorted to bootlegging, or buying and selling an illegal product, from bootleggers. Organized crime consisting of gangs and mobsters in Chicago and New York, such as Al Capone, were deeply involved in bootlegging. In the music industry, music bootlegging involves the taking and trading of unauthorized live recordings of live musical performers either from concert or studio outtakes. Bootleg music albums are recordings transferred from tape to vinyl or CD. They become a bootleg product when a bootlegger undertakes to create an artifact or when a non-commercial recording is transformed into a commercial product in the form of an LP or a CD. Bootleg recordings are usually done without the artist’s consent ; however, making a recording of a concert is not illegal per se. Although an individual cannot legally record an officially release CD or cassette tape on to a blank tape, he or she may make an unauthorized recording of a concert and keep it for personal use. However, the sale of such a recording is deemed illegal.  The problems with bootlegging is that it prevents the artist and the record company from maintaining quality control over their product , and it prevents them from collecting their royalties to their right to their music. 2. Changes in Copyright Laws Copyright is defined as â€Å"a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of ‘original works of authorship’† . The U. S. has passed significant copyright laws to protect an artist’s right to his or her original creations. These creations include not only musical works, but literary, dramatic, artistic and certain intellectual creations. The U. S. Constitution itself provides that â€Å"the Congress shall have power†¦ to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. † The State thus allows Congress to pass copyright laws to protect an artist’s rights to his or her musical creations. The U. S. Copyright Act was amended in 1976 so that it now covers new technological advancements and extended the term of protection to cover the life of the author plus 70 more years. Copyright laws allow the author, artist, or whoever holds the copyright to a creation to sue those who infringe on their copyrights for damages. The complainant has to prove infringement of copyright by a) proving ownership of the copyright and b) copying by the infringer-defendant. In compliance with its Constitutional mandate of protecting original works of authorship, the Congress has passed several laws concerning music copyright infringement, piracy and bootlegging. Some of the relevant laws will be discussed in this section. The Audio Home Recording Act allows music retailers to sell all analog and digital recording formats. It also gives a consumer the right to use such recordings provided such use is for non-commercial purposes, and in such cases, no copyright infringement lawsuit may be brought against a consumer. The consumer and retailer is also exempt from making royalty payments on digital audio recording devices and media; the burden falls on U. S. manufacturers and importers only who must pay for digital audio devices designed or marketed primarily for making digital audio recordings for private use, whether or not these are incorporated in some other device. These royalty payments are administered and monitored by the U. S. Register of Copyrights and the Librarian of Congress, with the proceeds split between the featured artists and the record company, or between the songwriters and music publishers, depending on the circumstances. Musical artists or musicians thus receive royalties which are based on record sales and airplay during a prescribed period. The U. S. is also a signatory of both the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty. In accordance with these international agreements, the U. S.  Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which makes it a crime to a crime to circumvent anti-piracy measures built into many of today’s commercial software and even most music CDs. The Act also limits the copyright infringement liability of ISPs for transmitting information over the Internet, but requires that ISPs remove copyright infringement materials found in users’ web sites. Despite legislative acts and proposed bills by well meaning members of the U. S. Congress, and jurisprudence laid down by the U. S. Supreme Court, infringers still find a way of getting around copyright laws by invoking the â€Å"fair use† doctrine. The U.  S. Code provides that the public is entitled to the â€Å"fair use† of copyrighted material. â€Å"Fair use† is â€Å"a privilege to use copyrighted material in a reasonable manner without consent, notwithstanding the copyright monopoly granted to the owner. † A copyrighted original creation may be reproduced for purposes of criticism, news reporting, comment, teaching, scholarship and research. The Code further provides that there are four factors in determining whether there is â€Å"fair use† of a copyrighted material or not : 1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes ) the nature of the copyrighted work itself 3) the proportion and substantiality of the copyrighted work actually used without authority 4) the potential economic detriment on the value of the work caused by such unauthorized use thereof. What makes it especially difficult to enforce the copyright is that information is so readily available through the Internet. As music is downloaded courtesy of digital technology, consumers are turning to the Internet to get their music rather than going out to music stores to buy the CDs. Bootlegged albums are also easily transmitted and shared through the Internet. Digital technology allows consumer to reproduce identical copies of digital music files, most commonly in compression formats such as MP3s. Such digital advancements not only pave the way for more widespread bootlegging, but for music piracy as well. 3. Advancements in Piracy Technology: File Sharing Piracy, as earlier discussed, is differentiated from bootlegging in that the former involve the unauthorized duplication of the sound, but with original art work. Piracy involves the reproduction and distribution of copies of original recordings. Advancements in digital technology have allowed music piracy to develop at an alarming rate. MP3s enable consumers to compress digitized music into smaller files, while ripping software allows them to copy music from CDs, store these on their hard drives, and then convert these files into compressed formats. Digital file reproduction devices, like CD players, in turn allow consumers to write these files into a CD and in effect create their own albums and compilations of copyrighted creations. Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks have also allowed increased music dissemination, as well as file sharing, as introduced by the infamous Napster software company. P2P networks basically offer users to access the hard drives of other users anywhere in the world by the installation of a piece of software. These networks allow users to search, copy and transfer music files typically through MP3 files. After Napster, subsequent P2P networks version, like KaZaA and Grokstar, which are collectively known as the FastTrack providers, allow users to access multiple individual computers instead of accessing just one single, centralized database of music files. The digital audio workstation (DAW) on the other hand, allows users to indulge in â€Å"sampling† – original music recordings, converted from analog to digital format, which users can import, cut, copy, layer and manipulate to create new musical work. Since samples may be in a band’s entire song, or merely passages from an instrument, in effect it allows not just users but even musicians and DJs to create, layer, expand and redefine music. Recording companies have resorted to copy-protection technology to protect themselves from piracy committed through file sharing and P2P networks. Copy-protected CDs is one answer, but public backlash and concerns about the technology’s effectiveness, have forced recording companies to limit use of such CDs in the U. S. and instead opted to release such CDs abroad in Europe and countries such as Japan. Five major recording companies in the U. S. use copy-protected CDs: BMG Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, EMI, and Sony. BMG in particular has made us of copy-protection advancements such the MediaMax CD-3 technology from SunnComm Technologies, Inc. located in Phoenix, Arizona. Through MediaMax CD-3, each song is written onto a CD twice. One format is readable by standard CD players while the other format is readable as a Windows media file playable on a computer. The technology allows consumers of BMG records to burn each track only three times per computer. The songs in BMG albums embedded with the MediaMax CD-3 technology may also be emailed to a limited number of people. However, each person in that limited list may only listen to ten times to each song in the album. In other words, songs in such CDs are locked and won’t be played even if they are downloaded from file-sharing networks if it exceeds the allowable number of times a person may listen to the track. Other developments are even more rigid. The CDS-300 developed by Macrovision, located in Santa Clara, California, allows CDs to be burnt and listened to online, but blocks other attempts to make copies or share music online. Recording companies thus are faced with a difficult balancing act. On the one hand, there is the need to respect a consumer’s desire to share, copy and hear songs in different ways. But on the other hand, there is the copyright to take note of and the bottom line – earning revenues through royalties by limiting the number of copies consumers make of copyrighted musical creations.

The Marxist Formula in Emechetas The Joys of Motherhood Essay

The Marxist Formula in Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood "Marx states that we are truly free only when '[people] place themselves in a position to control their own historical destiny'"(Slaughter 25). Britain's imperial colonization of Africa triggered vast change within the tribal civilizations thriving on the continent prior to European occupation. For the Africans, these changes altered every level of their culture: language, religion, as well as ancient tribal customs. But one of the most devastating aspects of the British colonization in Africa was the European economic system: capitalism. Capitalism left many Africans reeling from its destructive impact on tribal economies. Nowhere is this more evident than in The Joys of Motherhood, Buchi Emecheta's tale of the British occupation of Nigeria in the 1930s and 1940s. Emecheta's skillfully constructed story uses various literary devices to develop empathy for her characters suffering at the hands of the English. However, underlying these literary techniques -- and boosting the storyà ­s political objectives -- exists a Marxist economic analysis of the colonial system. Emecheta's Marxist examination provides an outline f or illustrating how imperialistic capitalism alienated Africans from their culture, and from one another, causing irreparable damage to the social fabric of Nigeria. The Marxist argument in The Joys of Motherhood demonstrates how the root of the characters' downfall is the socioeconomic shift from the tribal economic paradigm to the exploitative, capitalist system used by the British. However, Emecheta also criticizes her tribal culture's oppressive hierarchy, illustrating the Ibo treatment of slaves and of women. So although European colonialism... ...Marx and the Sources of Critical Theory. New Jersey: Rowman and Littlefield, 1981. Jameson, Fredric. Marxism and Form: Twentieth-Century Dialectical Theories of Literature. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1974. Magubane, Bernard, and Nzongola-Ntalaja, eds. Proletarianization and Class Struggle in Africa. Contemporary Marxism Series. San Francisco: Synthesis, 1982. Richter, David. The Critical Tradition: Classic and Contemporary Trends. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford, 1998. Selden, Raman, and Peter Widdowson. A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. 3rd ed. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 1993. Slaughter, Cliff. Marxism, Ideology and Literature. London: Macmillan, 1980. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York: Garland, 1999. Wallerstein, Immanuel. Africa: The Politics of Independence. New York: Vintage, 1961.

Why Companies Engage in Corporate Social Responsibility

Buss. Ethics Why do companies engage in corporate social responsibility? ~ Companies engage in CSR in order to maintain a business on track to do the right thing. However, there's three reasons that keeps a business engage with CSR. Pragmatic, where the term â€Å"use power or loose it† is used , this mean that if businesses are not responsible certain advantages could be taken away. Ethical reason, is when businesses have a responsability to behave ethically, this mean that executives' duty is to care about multiple stakeholders. The last reason is the strategic one, which is based identifying activities that can harm the business. . Do you believe that employees are more attracted and committed to socially responsible companies? Why or why not? Are you? Why or why not? ~Yes i truly believe so because they will be certain that the company stays on task and ethically manages situations. However, they will have in mind that they are working in an ethical environment and that th ey must work hard to keep it up that way. I know i will certainly be attracted more attracted to these companies because first of all, The social responsible environment will motivates me to do a good job. 3.A number of organizations have robust sustainability sections on their internet sites. Pick two and highlight what they are doing regarding sustainability, as well as compare and contrast. Interface Global: http://www. interfaceglobal. com/Sustainability ~ This organization has considerable resolutions on 3 key areas; They are, +reducing footprint +designing and manufacturing innovative products with less enviromental and social impacts. +creating a culture with engaged employees with a share vision of sustainable businesses. †¢ Wal-Mart: http://walmartstores. om/Sustainability/ ~ This organization is trying to make customers save money and help ensure a better world for generations to come. In order to do so they've set three aspirational sustainability goals: +To be suppl ied 100% by renewable energy+To create zero waste +To sell products that sustain people and the environment Overall, both organization have something in common, which is trying to maintain a sustainable business and a good environment. 4. Read the Merck and River Blindness case. What is River Blindness and who are the stakeholders in the Merck case. The River Blindness case is a disease that is cause by parasitic worms that live in the small black flies that breed in the rivver of the countries if middle east, Africa, and LAtin America. When a person is bitten by one of these blaack flies, the larvae of the worm can entern the person's body, reproduce and spread out causin the person itchiness and blindness. ~ The stackeholders for Merck are individual with disease, horses, Merck, and Merck scientists 5. Explain why socially responsible business is good business.Social Responsible business is good business because Being socially responsible creates goodwill and a positive image for the business. Trust and a good reputation are some of the company’s most valuable assets. In fact, without these, a business can't function. These important assets can be encourage by being socially responsible. However, it is crucial the right socially responsible program is plan for the business. When used properly, it will open up a countless of new relationships and opportunities. It will grow success and the company’s culture. It will become a culture that the company's staff and the whole community will believe in.

Visas para enfermeras para trabajar en Estados Unidos

Las visas para enfermeras extranjeras para trabajar en Estados Unidos son relativamente frecuentes debido a la escasez de profesionales en ese campo. Existen varios caminos para trabajar, aunque se han reducido desde que se dejase expirar el programa bajo el cual se concedà ­an las visas H-1C, pensado precisamente para este tipo de personal sanitario. Sin embargo, todavà ­a es posible conseguir legalmente un puesto de trabajo en un hospital o clà ­nica. A continuacià ³n se informa sobre la situacià ³n actual de enfermerà ­a en EE.UU. y se explican las distintas opciones migratorias para enfermeras extranjeras que desean venir a trabajar en este paà ­s. Escasez de enfermeras en Estados Unidos Se calcula que 3,9 millones de enfermeras trabajan en la actualidad en Estados Unidos en las diferentes categorà ­as de enfermerà ­a. Segà ºn la Asociacià ³n Nacional de Enfermerà ­a, de ahora al aà ±o 2024 dejarà ¡n de trabajar 690.000 enfermeras por jubilacià ³n y por cambio de profesià ³n. Ademà ¡s, debido al envejecimiento rà ¡pido de la poblacià ³n la Oficina de Estadà ­sticas de Trabajo del gobierno estima que se necesitarà ¡ que un 1.200.000 enfermeras entren a trabajar si no se quiere agravar el problema de escasez de profesionales de enfermerà ­a. Una de las formas de paliar la falta de enfermeras es permitir la contratacià ³n de personal extranjero. Las opciones varà ­an de patrocinio de una tarjeta de residencia a varias posibles visas. Cabe destacar que sin el adecuado documento migratorio no es posible trabajar en Estados Unidos. En la actualidad, la mayorà ­a de enfermeras extranjeras que trabajan en EE.UU. proceden de Filipinas, India, Canadà ¡, Corea del Sur, Irlanda, Australia y Reino Unido, sin embargo, existe una necesidad evidente por un mayor nà ºmero de enfermeras de origen hispano ya que en la actualidad sà ³lo el 4,9 por ciento se identifican como a este grupo à ©tnico. Tarjeta de residencia por trabajo para enfermeras extranjeras Sacar la tarjeta de residencia por patrocinio de un empleador estadounidense es un proceso largo y laborioso, pero al completarlo la enfermera podrà ¡ quedarse de por vida, si asà ­ lo desea, a vivir en Estados Unidos ya que serà ¡ titular de una green card. Los trà ¡mites pueden tomar entre 12 y 18 meses, aunque dependiendo del paà ­s de origen puede llevar mà ¡s. Ademà ¡s de la oferta de trabajo, la enfermera necesitarà ¡ ser diplomada universitaria en esa carrera, ser el equivalente al Registered Nurse americano y bien aprobar un examen estatal que certifique sus conocimientos o aprobar el difà ­cil examen conocido como NCLEX u obtener una certificacià ³n que sà ³lo puede ser emitida por la Comission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing. Visa para enfermeras tipo H-1B Estos visados se conceden a profesionales y modelos y son particularmente populares entre las profesiones tecnolà ³gicas. Es muy comà ºn creer que las enfermeras no pueden acogerse a este tipo de visas, pero es un error. Es cierto que estas visas, cuando se conceden a profesionales, exigen estudios universitarios mà ­nimos de licenciatura, o lo que en inglà ©s se conoce como un bachelors degree. Pero lo cierto es que muchas enfermeras han estudiado mà ¡s allà ¡ que la mera diplomatura. Ademà ¡s es posible compensar la falta de estudios superiores con experiencia laboral pertinente. Otro problema que frecuentemente surge con la visa H-1B cuando se quiere para una enfermera es que Inmigracià ³n pide el certificado del estado para trabajar como paso para aprobar la solicitud de visa. Por otra parte, el estado pide como requisito tener un documento que permita trabajar en EE.UU. para otorgar la certificacià ³n. En este punto cabe destacar que los bufetes de abogados especialistas en esta visa saben encontrar soluciones a este tipo de problema. Ademà ¡s, las visas H-1B son muy apreciadas porque se consideran de intencià ³n doble, desde el punto de vista migratorio. Esto es, permiten que se cambien por visas de inmigrante o residencias permanentes legales. Si no se hace este cambio a tarjeta de residencia permanente, que necesita el patrocinio de la empresa, los visados son và ¡lidos por tres aà ±os, prorrogables por otros tres. El lado no positivo es que aunque con este tipo de visa se puede viajar y vivir en Estados Unidos junto con cà ³nyuge y los hijos solteros menores de 21 aà ±os, estos no podrà ¡n trabajar salvo en casos muy especiales en los que ya està ¡ iniciado un trà ¡nsito hacia la tarjeta de residencia. Sin embargo, los hijos sà ­ que podrà ¡n estudiar. Cada aà ±o fiscal se pueden conceder hasta un total de 65,000 visados de este tipo, mà ¡s otros 20,000 adicionales para las personas que hayan realizado estudios de maestrà ­a o doctorado en EEUU. Ademà ¡s hay 1,400 reservados para los nacionales de Chile. Ademà ¡s, hay que tener en cuenta que no hay là ­mite anual de visas de este tipo cuando el empleador es un organismo o institucià ³n oficial. En el caso de la sanidad la Clà ­nica Mayo es por ejemplo un importante patrocinador de este tipo de visados y no està ¡ sujeto a là ­mites de nà ºmero por aà ±o. Cabe destacar que muchos de los hospitales en el Top 10 para el tratamiento del cà ¡ncer està ¡n en esta categorà ­a. Incluso ofrecen estadà ­as temporales para el entrenamiento de personal sanitario extranjero. Visa TN para mexicanos Esta visa de trabajo solo aplica a ciudadanos mexicanos y canadienses ya que han sido creadas al amparo del Tratado de Libre Comercio de Norte Amà ©rica. (NAFTA, por sus siglas en inglà ©s). Para beneficiarse de este visado hay que ser una Registered Nurse, no basta con tener simplemente la titulacià ³n de enfermerà ­a. El cà ³nyuge y los hijos pueden vivir en EEUU pero no està ¡n autorizados para trabajar. Para los nacionales mexicanos es de interà ©s conocer  todas las profesiones que permiten  aplicar por una visa TN. Visado E-3 para nacionales de Australia Sà ³lo se pueden acoger a à ©l las enfermeras australianas y se conceden por un periodo de dos aà ±os que se puede incrementar por igual tiempo. Sus titulares podrà ¡n vivir en Estados Unidos acompaà ±ados de su familia inmediata. Se parecen mucho a las H-1B pero cuentan con la ventaja de que el cà ³nyuge de un titular de estas visas sà ­ puede obtener un permiso de trabajo. Como nota a tener en cuenta destacar que la E-3 es una de las visas de trabajo que mà ¡s rà ¡pidamente se tramitan. Ingresos medios de enfermeras Si te preguntas si tanto sacrificio merece la pena, estos son los ingresos anuales medios de las enfermeras en Estados Unidos segà ºn el tipo de especializacià ³n. En relacià ³n a los salarios es importante entender que hay grandes diferencias tambià ©n segà ºn los aà ±os de experiencia laboral, el lugar de trabajo e incluso el tipo de institucià ³n para la que se trabaja. Asimismo, hay que tener en cuenta que lo que realmente se gana puede estar muy influenciado por lo que se paga de impuestos, ya que varà ­an grandemente segà ºn el estado y a veces incluso segà ºn la ciudad o el condado. Agencias que contratan a enfermeras extranjeras Las enfermeras y enfermeros que desean trabajar en Estados Unidos y desean encontrar patrocinador pueden informarse con cualquiera de estas  10 agencias especializadas en reclutar enfermeras  de otros paà ­ses para trabajar en USA. Consejos sobre validacià ³n de estudios Las visas para enfermeras requieren un buen nivel de inglà ©s y los resultados que se exigen de los exà ¡menes aceptados –TOEFL, IELTS o TOEIC- son altos. No sà ³lo basta leer y escribir bien, hay que entender y hablar muy aceptablemente. Se espera un gran nà ºmero de jubilaciones de personal sanitario americano a lo largo de esta dà ©cada, con lo que se pronostica que habrà ¡ una gran necesidad de este tipo de profesionales extranjeros. Finalmente, los estudios necesitan ser validados correctamente y por organizaciones aprobadas para ello. Puntos clave EE.UU. sufre de escasez grave en profesionales de enfermerà ­aEs posible ser patrocinado por empresa para tarjeta de residencia permanenteLas enfermeras extranjeras pueden sacar visas H-1B, TN y E3 (solo australianos) Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.