Digital Dilemma: The Relationship Between Preservation and Piracy

Abstract

Digital media preservation and piracy appear to have a lot in common. Both of their end goals are the same. Although, media preservation has more to do with the preservation of culture digitally rather than distributing a product for free. Through careful research done through both pre and post-internet societies, it’s been shown that there will always be people who preserve, and there will always be people who pirate. This research was based on many peer reviewed sources that discuss the implications of digital media preservation, piracy and copyright in general. A rich history lies in all of these fronts as the digital age skyrocketed near the end of the twentieth century, with people, companies and lawmakers trying to make heads or tails of the new technology. People are worried about our digital future because of strict copyright laws, but there will always be people who are willing to stick through and preserve almost anything from our history, from storing media on hard drives to using websites like Internet Archive or YouTube.