The videos have been extremely helpful with helping me truly figure out the differences between copyright, fair use, and creative commons. The movie “Good Copy / Bad Copy” definitely struck home with me because I have a lot of friends that are DJ’s, some well known and others that do it for fun. Since I was in high school, my teachers made it clear that we would get into a lot of trouble if we plagiarized. No mention (that I can remember) was ever talked about copyright. When we had projects or reports due, we knew to change to ‘wording’ around so we did not plagiarize our papers. However, we used pictures and music without giving any thought to copyrights.
It was great to watch the videos and get a real understanding about what is fair use, copyrighted, what is not covered by a copyright and for how long, etc. I was always under the impression that copyrights were for eternity. (I probably should know all of this since my good friend is an Intellectual Property and Technology Lawyer… shhhh don’t tell!)
As far as the laws are concerned, I think that since technology is expanding at rapid speeds, the laws do need to keep up with it. It seems that the laws truly are prohibiting creativity because of all the restrictions on music, art, literature, etc. It is hard to be creative when you have thoughts of a jail sentence or fine running through your mind at all times. Personally, I like using my own photos or creating my own music through GarageBand. That way I know that I am not infringing on any laws, rules, or regulations.
Since starting EMDT, I was so glad to be shown the world of Creative Commons. It has been a resource that I have used many times when I do not have my own resources for my projects. It is great because you can share and use the pictures, music, etc. for your work more readily then copyrighted works. There are some great pictures that I would love to upload to the website so that other people can enjoy it and not have to worry about breaking the law.
Overall, watching the videos has been a great way to truly teach and show me the true meaning of copyright, fair use, and creative commons. I gained so much knowledge from the videos that I easily understood. In the past I have read definitions and articles concerning these topics, but they still seemed like abstract terms. Now I know I can utilize pictures, music and text accordingly and properly.
Funny how teachers focus in on plagiarism but then may be violating copyright themselves when they use videos in the classroom as time-fillers at the end of semesters. I guess when it comes to privacy they are the same thing: someone trying to pass off the work of someone else as their own. but with media, especially re-mix media it get much more complicated and is less about just copying someone else's work. The balance between artists getting compensated and society's need to have cultural icons/stories is a difficult one to find or maintain.
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