What is your stance on copyright/copyleft (e.g., creative commons) in the “copy and paste” Internet world of today?
Use examples to support your point.
On one hand, copyleft is a method designed to put programs in the public domain for widespread access. If someone had created artwork or music, it can be viewed or heard by millions of people and be allowed for use whenever necessary when those who utilize it do not claim it as theirs and demand payment,
On the other, copyright laws are there for a reason. Without them in place, people can seize the free programs or information and 'remake' them to turn a profit from work that was not entirely theirs. That, in turn, can take away from the income from the original source. One example of this relevant in today's society can easily be seen in music - music artists take snippets of songs from others quite often. Nicki Minaj's song 'Anaconda' and Sir Mix-A-Lot's song 'Baby Got Back' have similar elements in beat and tune, just like 'Under Pressure' by David Bowie and 'Ice Ice Baby' by Vanilla Ice.
Personally I prefer ideas and creativity and works of art and music to be accessible to the public at any time, as the internet is a source of creativity and learning across the world. Of course there will be as great a threat of plagiarism as ever, perhaps even increased than before if we were to make everything just a click away, but technically there have always been ways around plagiarism even if it is illegal. That does not, by any means, say that plagiarism can be overlooked, but if there were not such strict regulations on resources then it would certainly make the spread of information and culture much more simplified.