You wouldn’t steal a car. You would never rob (抢劫) a bank or pick someone’s pocket. But you may be another kind of thief.
If you have ever bought a disc for 15 yuan or less, then you have helped to rob artists or musicians of their intellectual properly rights (知识产权).
Last Thursday was World Intellectual Property Day. Activities to tell people about intellectual property rights were held around the country.
Intellectual property includes inventions, literary (文学的) and artistic works, names, and pictures. They are of little value (价值) if they are not read, seen and used.
While the cost of copying discs is very small, authors, singers and actors have to spend a lot of money and time making a new product. That’s why they have the right to make money from their work.
So buying pirated (盗版的) music of Jay Chou and Jolin Tsai is like stealing from them, paying them no respect for their hard work.
If Jay Chou cannot make money from his work, he may not make anything else. But those who make pirated goods are becoming rich without doing any hard work.
The authors should ask for a fair price for their work. Earlier this year there was much talk about how much KTV clubs should pay the music companies for using their songs.
The copyright fee (版权费) also should be fair to the users. That’s good for the music’s popularity and society as well.
小题1:What is the author’s attitude towards protecting (保护) intellectual property rights7
A．He is for it.
B．He is against it.
C．He doesn’t care about it.
D．The article doesn’t tell us.小题2:Which of the following do intellectual property rights not cover?
A．Inventions.
B．Literary and artistic works.
C．Names end pictures.
D．Pirated music.小题3:According to the article, which of the following is true?
A. Authors should ask for a high price for their work,
B, The copyright fee should ha fair to users.
C. Authors, singers and actors have no right to make money from their work,
D. Buying pirated music by Jay Chou is very good.
小题4:What is the best title for the article?
A．Rob a Bank
B．Copyright Fees
C．Say No to pirated Music
D．World Intellectual Property Day
