What are legal issues regarding copyright?

Answer 1

The biggest issue for copyright is its inability to react quickly to new technology; the best example for this is that distributing music as an mp3 requires a mechanical license, because the law was written to apply to player pianos and other mechanical reproduction.

The law is also intentionally vague, in an attempt to make it more flexible, but this means it's wide open to interpretation. The most frequently referred-to section of US law, Fair Use, gives virtually no guidelines on the amount of a work that can be used without a license. Various industries have agreed on their own guidelines and sets of best practices, but they can't be considered to be "law."

Answer 2

"Copyright issues" is a rather vague term which often appears as a gentler way of saying "copyright infringement." A particular CD I have includes a track on the first issue that doesn't appear on subsequent releases because of "copyright issues;" in that case, the performers were sued by the rightsholder of the song in question.

Answer 3

A copyright dispute is disagreement between the owners and users of a protected work. The most common is an owner responding to an unlicensed work, which the user feels is defensible as fair use.

Answer 4

Copyright is itself a federal law, so that's a start. Related issues might be plagiarism and fraud, depending on the type of infringement.

Answer 5

Copyright protects the rights of creators, and thereby encourages creation.