My response to Brian Thomas’ blog.
Brian, the points that you highlight in your blog about Copyright were right to the point and sum up what I found to be most important also.
Your points were:
· Copyright is about permission
· The Fair use document is helpful because of the fact that there is no definable amount
· Possibility of artists not going after the big bucks is there but the likelihood is questionable
The concept of permission makes me think of politeness. How polite is our culture when it comes to letting others have the right of way or using our stuff? Two examples that come to mind is when we have to drive on the road or when we ask our kids to share. My experience on the road is the bigger the vehicle the less likely they will give right of way. Disney is a big truck! With my kids the opportunity to share becomes more a time to conduct negotiations. I’m still trying to break them of this tendency.
In the Fair Use ideas, I thought it was interesting that the Judges that are making decisions are looking for direction from people involved to help define what the acceptable practice is. Since there is a lot of a grey area it is good to be proactive and create the documents that guide best practices so that people can follow them and Judges have something to look towards as they make decisions. I wonder if there is any activity in the educational arena to create such a document.
I too wonder if the market culture in America would have the likelihood that people would willingly forgo compensation for the altruistic goal of a better healthier culture. Are people too much about their own gain? Time will tell if a change is coming.
Brian Thomas' blog link and copy of content.
http://briankatiethomas.blogspot.com/
The blog is alive again, and now I’m talking about copyright. Let me start by expressing my surprise to some of the copyright laws:
I didn’t realize that improvisational acts that the actor wanted to make permanent were not copyrightable unless they had a script or had it on video. I suppose I’ll have to start recording my amazing one-man improvisational plays before I get bamboozled.
The belief “If I don’t charge for it, it’s not a violation.” was a good reminder of something that is NOT true with regards to copyright. I didn’t fully understand the legalities of that before these videos. The best reminder for me was the statement: “Copyright is not about usage, it’s about permission.”
The story about Pirate Bay was enlightening. The Swedish interviewee had some interesting points but I think it’s all based on perspective. Had he created something that provided him his major source of income, I wonder how he would feel about others using it and it’s affect on that income. That being said, international piracy seems like an impossible problem because of the lack of international laws against this.
On to the Fair Use discussion:
The part that surprised me the most about fair use was that there was no definable amount that could be reproduced when using copyrighted content. While there is no black or white area here, I do like that some documents about fair usage in documentary films and online video were created to at least give a general guideline. The shocker for me was when I learned that if you can teach the content or subject without the copyrighted material being used, then you don’t really have Fair Use rights to use it, no matter how little you take.
It sounds to me like those that want to be able to use copyrighted content for free have some very impressive arguments. However, ultimately the music belongs to the big music producing companies and as long as there is ANY threat to their bottom line I anticipate they will fight against the free use of their music. I believe a change to copyrighting IS possible but think that it would have to be made by independent artists that become popular through social media sites rather than the big labels. Then they would have to vocally support the free use of their content. All the while ignoring the promises of riches from the big music companies. Possible, yes. Likely…?
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