Copyright

Many large corporations have been cracking down on copyright violations, most notably record companies. There have been several cases, recently, where record companies have sued file-sharers for thousands and even millions of dollars. It is apparent that file-sharing does violate the copyright law; however, there is a huge disparity between the amounts of money individuals are being sued for and the number of songs downloaded. Why are the record companies getting so much for so little? I agree with those who believe the decline in album sales has something to do with it. Record companies aren’t making as much as they used to, so they are trying to make up for it by taking file-sharers to court and suing for huge sums. If they are suing for the amount lost from potential sales, it doesn’t add up, especially when individual songs can be purchased for less than a dollar on the internet. Oftentimes those songs aren’t even from the same album or artist. I’m not saying that file-sharing shouldn’t be punished, but the punishment should be altered to better fit the crime.