Wk 1 - Reading Entry

FINALLY! I am so happy to be discussing this topic in detail now, but really feel that this discussion is long overdue. We have been creating work for 10 months without much direction in the way of copyright issues. This also goes along with my feeling that we have never really discussed privacy and security on the Internet. I am wondering what the rationale is for either not discussing these topics or leaving them until the end of the program?

Ok, on to the topic at hand. The resources provided were great and I especially liked the film Good Copy Bad Copy. Copyright was meant to protect products and the rights of their creator.  It was interesting to hear about the international views on copyright.  In Nigeria, copyright is not about stopping people from using your work, but for getting people to pay you to use your work.  In Sweden there were not any laws, which meant that the Pirate Bar could operate and a political party was created…the Pirate Party to protect privacy rights. They see it as file sharing and not copyright infringement.  I LOVED the Bush and Blair music video…hysterical and creative. I had to look it up.

Another significant aspect of the video was the almost cavalier attitude exhibited about an artist's property.  While the idea of new "art forms" comes into play (eg. Girl Talk and also the Grey Album), it seems there should be some kind of an agreement that makes it easier to get permission to use content and also to reward the artist with royalties.  A global solution is surely needed where everybody wins; artist, consumer/user of the copyrighted material, and the publisher.

With regard to Fair Use, it is interesting that "Fair Use" is not so much a legal tort but, instead, a platform where one can defend the use of copyrighted material.  I also realized the learning component requirement tied to the Fair Use argument places a burden on the user of the material to prove that the lesson could not have been completed without the use of the copyrighted material. Thank goodness I always show movies that enhance my lesson plans.

The access to media means that there must be a new way to think of copyrights. People want to be paid for their creations, but relying on a very strict copyright law can stymie creativity.  Freedom, sharing and collaboration will spur innovation and allow the invention of new art forms and types of expression. I mean, who would have thought that Bush and Blair could sound as amazing as Lionel Richie and Diana Ross?