Copyright laws have to be placed with some of the most frustrating laws
to date. There is so much grey area with copyrighting that someone can clearly
cross the line unknowingly. The 10 big myths discussed are perfect examples of
commonly used statements I always hear. Most of the comments are from
professionals who really have no idea that they’re breaking the law. I know
I’ve heard my brother, the music producer, say a lot of those statements within
the last 10 years. I have already contacted him and informed him to re-review
his copyright teachings.
What is the purpose of copyright
law you ask? The purpose is to promote the progress of useful arts by
protecting the rights of the inventors, which allows them to reap full benefits
from their work. Types of work include art, videos, audio productions, and
screen play productions. Items that are not protected include improves and
dances not videotaped. After listening to this definition, I started to think
about all of the musical artist who were hustled by corporations, loosing their
copyrights to a masterpiece. One video stated that an individuals copyright last
for a lifetime plus 70 years and a companies last for 100 years. That is beyond
a long time for an artist to regain ownership of their works.
I was shocked to see how the rest of the worldviews piracy and laws set
up to defend copyrighted works. I was even shocked to see that Nigeria set the
bar as the worlds no. 1 producer of movies with the least amount of copyright
infringements. This was an eye opener, especially since America sits at no. 3. I
really like how musical artist around the world are working with each other for
the common good of producing music. This brings me to Creative Common. This has
to be the most effective way to ensure your work remains protected while giving
others the opportunity to sample, modify, or build from without stealing. I
have never heard of this company, but I will surely utilize materials protected
under them for now on.
Each video allowed me to reminisce about my undergraduate business
courses that discussed minor details of this law. Unfortunately, those courses
barely touched all of the extensive information displayed. This lesson has
really opened my eyes to what is actually considered copyright infringement and
what’s acceptable. My perception of acceptable handling of copyrighted material
has dramatically changed now. I think these videos would’ve been excellent
during the start of EMDT. I know now that I have walked a thin line during my
matriculation through this program. From here on, I plan to further gain an
understanding of what is acceptable when dealing with copy written material.
I agree that all the videos I’ve watched in the past few days have been very informative. I also agree that seeing even a couple of these in the beginning of this degree would have helped in the understanding of what is legal and not legal for us to use. How great is it that you were able to share this information with your brother. I would think that a music producer would already know a majority of this material. I would like to know what his response to you will be and what habits he will have to change to be in compliance with all the copyright laws, if any. I, too, found if very interesting that Nigeria is the No. 1 for producing movies with the least amount of copyright infringements. I also found it interesting that they only use digital. Creative Commons is the best addition to our small box of sites that has materials we can use for our projects. It has become my #1 site now!
ReplyDeleteWow Anthony, I never thought about the it from that prospective. I would also have to agree with you that learning about this at the beginning of the program would have been a tremendous eye opener for us, because we have definitely walked a mighty thin line with the use of images as well as music samples in some of our previous course work. Since you are a Music instructor, do you find it difficult to help your students to understand the importance of copyright infringement? This thought came to me as I reflecting on the TED video.
ReplyDeleteExcellent reflection and interaction with the reading.
ReplyDelete