PrepTest 115

[lcid:3558] Prep Test 115 LSAT — Reading Comp — S3 Reading comp

Passage

Questions 24-28        The following passage was written in the mid–1990s.  .        Users of the Internet—the worldwide network of Remaining source text redacted.
Passage walkthrough
Passage Summary

Topic: Legal


Paragraph 1

  • Paragraph note
    • Internet users’ view (free access to info) and problem (sharing copyrighted info)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Internet users’ view:
      • See the internet as a way to get free access to information, including copyrighted material (first and second sentences)
    • Examples of copyrighted works that are being transmitted online:
      • Books, photographs, videos and films, and sound recordings (second sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “begun to conflict with reality” (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

  • Paragraph note
    • Problem expanded (Canadian law doesn’t clearly prohibit digitalization of copyrighted media)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Definition of “digitization”: converting media into computer data (first sentence)
    • Examples of unauthorized reproductions that Canadian copyright law prohibits:
      • Photocopies of books or pirated audiotapes (last sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “is not yet clear” (last sentence); “not yet technically a crime” (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

  • Paragraph note
    • Experts’ potential solution (make digitalization illegal), author’s view (this raises questions) and prediction (problem will not be resolved easily)
  • Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
    • Experts’ view:
      • Revise copyright law by prohibiting unauthorized digitization (first sentence)
      • It will be difficult to resolve the clash between Internet users and the publishing community since the two groups’ beliefs are in opposition (last sentence)
    • Author’s view:
      • There are several problems with the expert’s solution: Who does it apply to — just people who reproduce the original or people who reproduce copies? Is it even enforceable? What about special cases, like educators? (third through fifth sentences)
    • Comparison, according to the experts:
      • Electronic reproduction rights should be the same as rights to other types of reproductions (first sentence)
    • Author’s attitude: “host of questions” (second sentence); “virtually unenforceable” (fourth sentence)

Main Point: Although Canada's copyright laws do not explicitly prohibit the unauthorized transmission of media on the internet, simply expanding existing laws to cover this online transmission may not be as simple as it seems.

Meta-Structure?

Problem/Solution: The Problem/Solution Meta-Structure best fits the argument made in this passage.* The beginning of the passage introduces a problem created by “digitization” on the internet: users of the internet want to communicate and exchange copyrighted information freely, but this conflicts with copyright laws’ desire to protect original ideas.

Once we have identified the problem that the passage is investigating, determining whether the author presents a solution to that problem is critical to understanding the passage as a whole. Finally, in the third paragraph, the passage introduces a possible solution, attributed to “experts”: perhaps lawmakers should simply extend copyright law to cover digitization?

However, the author isn’t convinced. The last paragraph outlines several of the author’s concerns. Instead of settling on a way to fix the problem introduced in the first paragraph, the passage ends by emphasizing how even experts think it will “be hard to resolve the clash between the Internet community” and “the publishing community” (P3, S6).

In a Problem/Solution passage, the main point is typically a summary of the author’s opinion on the proposed solution(s). Since the author thinks that extended copyright law to cover digitization will be more complicated than the experts may believe, our main point will reflect that opinion. In other words, our main point is “Although Canada's copyright laws do not explicitly prohibit the unauthorized transmission of media on the internet, simply expanding existing laws to cover this online transmission may not be as simple as it seems.”

*We can also think of this passage as a Describing a Debate passage, as much of this passage is presented as a debate between internet users and publishers/copyright holders. If this is the designation you went with, you would probably end up with a very similar main point and set of notes that we came up with. Remember, multiple Meta-Structurescan accurately describe the same passage, so we shouldn’t be too worried about coming up with the one “correct” Meta-Structure. As long as we’re thinking about the passage’s overarching structure, we’re doing our job effectively.

Last Thoughts?

As convenient as it would be for the author to always provide a solution to problems mentioned in the passage, effective test-takers will remember that the author is under no obligation to do so. Making premature assumptions about how the author regards certain solutions can prevent us from understanding the passage. Take, for example, the solution discussed in the third paragraph of this particular passage. What do we actually know about the author’s thoughts?

Only that the author thinks the solution seems incomplete and unenforceable.

The author never says that we should or shouldn’t pursue this solution. So, when answering questions about the author’s opinions (e.g., Major Point questions, Tone questions, some Minor Point questions), we should avoid answer choices that characterize the discussed solution as either “right” or “wrong.” something closer to “complicated” than to “wrong.”

This idea relates back to the passage’s Meta-Structure. While it might be tempting to classify this passage under a Criticizing a Viewpoint Meta-Structure, there are several aspects of the passage that make a Problem/Solution Structure a better choice. The author characterizes the issues with the solution as “questions” — not “drawbacks” or “weaknesses” or anything critical like that. Moreover, the problem (not the conflict between internet users and publishers) is always kept front and center. It is the topic we are first introduced at the beginning and also what the author chooses to reiterate at the end. If we had elected to think about the passage primarily through the lens of “Criticizing a Viewpoint,” we might have missed how emphatically the passage demonstrates that the problem is a sticky one.

Question prompt

Given the author's argument, Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Question Type

Legal

Strategy Overview

Review the main point and the internet community and publishing community’s views to anticipate how an addition to Canadian copyright law could please both groups

Answer Anticipation

For questions that ask us to infer what must be true in a novel situation, we can start by quickly finding and reviewing the relevant parts of the passage. In this case, we’re asked to find a hypothetical addition to Canadian copyright law that could please both the internet community and the publishing community. So, let’s start by reviewing their viewpoints. Our note for the first paragraph is, “Internet users’ view (free access to info) and problem (sharing copyrighted info),” so we should review that part of the passage. In that paragraph, the author says that internet users internet as a way to get free access to information, including copyrighted material (P1, S1-2), while copyright holders want to protect their material from unauthorized and uncompensated distribution. The publishing community is also mentioned at the end of the passage — they’re used to treating information as a commodity owned by its creator (P3, S6).These two beliefs seem incompatible, so it’s pretty hard to predict what the correct answer will say. However, knowing both sides’ beliefs will help us assess whether an answer choice’s hypothetical amendment to copyright law would satisfy both sides. So, the correct answer will have to not restrict the internet’s users’ access to information too much while still preserving the copyright holder’s ability to make money off of their creation.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Digitalization of copyrighted works Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem

    (A) Does this addition preserve the copyright holder’s ability to make money off of their creations without restricting the internet’s users’ access to information too much?

    Yes, this strikes a nice balance between the internet users and the publishing community’s interests. It seems like internet users would agree to this since this compromise would still permit them to transfer information online. Additionally, their ability to gain digital access to copyrighted works for just a “small fee” doesn’t restrict their access too much.

    It also seems like the publishers might accept this addition. This compromise ensures that they get compensated for their intellectual property. Although it’s just for a “small fee,” the passage says that “millions of people” could receive a digital copy (P2, S2). So the publishers could still earn quite a bit of revenue.


    Most test-takers would elect to check the remaining answer choice to see if there’s a hypothetical change to Canadian law that would be even more likely to satisfy both the internet users and the publishers. Once we see that the remaining options would not satisfy one or both parties, we can return confidently select (A).

  2. B
    Digitalization of copyrighted works Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited

    (B) Does this addition preserve the copyright holder’s ability to make money off of their creations without restricting the internet’s users’ access to information too much?

    Nope. Internet users would not agree to this. Restricting digitalization to those in academic fields would completely prevent most internet users from exchanging information on the internet. This would be a bad deal for them, so this is not the answer choice we are looking for.

  3. C
    Digitalization of copyrighted works Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited

    (C) Does this addition preserve the copyright holder’s ability to make money off of their creations without restricting the internet’s users’ access to information too much?

    Negative. The publishers would not think that this is an agreeable compromise. Under this policy, there would be no way for publishers to stop their intellectual property from being stolen and distributed online. As a result, they wouldn’t make a dime off digital reproductions of their works. We can eliminate this choice.

  4. D
    Digitalization of copyrighted works Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited

    (D) Does this addition preserve the copyright holder’s ability to make money off of their creations without restricting the internet’s users’ access to information too much?

    Nope. Both internet users and publishers would probably consider this disagreeable. Like (B), this would end the exchange of online information, the one thing the internet users want to protect. And this would also prevent publishers from making money online.(D) is out.

  5. E
    Digitalization of copyrighted works Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited

    (E) Does this addition preserve the copyright holder’s ability to make money off of their creations without restricting the internet’s users’ access to information too much?

    No. For the same reasons as (B), this is not likely to please internet users. It’s far too restrictive, as any user not engaged in research would not be able to exchange copyrighted information online. (A) is the best answer, by far.

What this tests

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