Woah, did you watch the latest episode of “Game of Thrones” off of www.watchmoviesonlineforabsolutelyfree.net?

Ok, I won’t call the cops this time, but I’m watching you.

Ok, but really onto the point. Copyright is defined as “the exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same.”

During Larry Lessig’s Ted Talk, one quote that stuck to me throughout the whole thing was when he described creativity as a “culture where people produce for the love of what they are doing and not for the money.”

He was trying to say that many people don’t use copyrighted material to earn money off someone else’s creation but for their personal use. People can express their creativity through remixes, art, music, memes, and so much more. It can inspire someone to reinvent or recreate a piece of art or even encourage them to create their own original idea.

However, it does not justify using someone else’s work and distributing it without giving credit to the original owner. After all, If anyone could copy freely anything that is an output of your creative work, how would a writer make a living writing books or a musician make a living producing music?

Also, in many ways, copyright can enhance creativity since you have to develop your own ideas instead of taking advantage of someone else’s.