Week 1: Comment 2

Original Post: 
As a visual artist I understand what it’s like to have your work taken without permission. Taking an image even one that has been watermarked and using it without paying the artist is wrong. If found the artist has the right to request you take down the image. Just because you change the image or remix music doesn’t mean the original artist should not get some sort of compensation for their work. I think in the case of modifying an image it depends on the how the modification is use. Was it paid for or was it used without permission? Is the artist who made the change profiting from the modified image?
I believe if the artist purchased the image for the intent of reuse and it was sold as such then the original artist has no say. If the image was taken without permission, even from news media then the original artist should have the right to collect compensation. Music, video, imagery and print media should not be used (even snips) without permission from the original artist. The entire remix controversy is simple in the fact that creating art for profit off of someone else’s work without permission is copyright infringement. It really is that simple. There is no doubt that it is creative but it is taking their hard work and profit and claiming it as your own.
Now there are alternatives that people should consider. Most agencies that sell images, video clips and audio clips offer “free media”. You still need to read and understand how you can use this media but it is out there. Then we have other sites that are built on user content and many of these offer shared content, again with restrictions. When these site find copyrighted materials the take them down. YouTube for instance will send notification to users and explain why they removed a video and how to contact the copyright holder. The “Fair Use” of media has some merit only if the guidelines are followed and enforced. If you think about it we have done this for years in the form of critic reviews, the releases of movies, videos and music.
The other source people should consider is creative commons. The sharing of many forms of media and art. Depending on the license you can use, distribute or even remix these items. It has opened a world of possibility for the remix community. Think about a gathering of artists from around the world with the purpose of sharing and blending their ideas to create new unique artistic expressions. I have personally used music from this site. I have also added to free images at several stock photography agencies. The free content is out there we just have to find it the legal way. Respect artist by respecting their copyrights. If you do use someone’s work remember to give credit where credit is due!
Thanks for reading!

http://mediadesigntech.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/week-1-mac-blog-1-reading-copyrights-and-you/#comments

My comment:

I whole-heartedly agree with you Allen that there is no such thing as taking something creative - music, art, dance, film, photos, whatever, and change it  and say it is yours.  The hard work and creativity came from the original artist.  The next step or remix is just an adaptation of someone's perspective, and the original artist should be compensated in whatever manner they deem equitable.  It makes me sad though that this is such an easy way to be creative, and that people may not try so hard to be originally creative.  I hope not.  Thanks for the sites you have shared  before with free music and images.

 

Week 1: Comment 1

office.microsoft.com/images

Original post:

http://rlocklear613.blogspot.com/2011/09/week-1-free-post-technology-for-my.html#comments

One thing that I would like to incorporate into my Kindergarten classroom is the use of digital cameras for the kids. This would be a great tool to have in centers as an accountability resource. I could have a task set up in a center, and after students have completed that task, then they could take a picture of it, and move to the next center. Students would be responsible for uploading the images to the computer and saving them at the end of center time. When I need to assess what they completed, I would simply find the photo on the computer.

My comment: 

Rosalyn, What an interesting idea! I teach first graders, and as I was reading this I was thinking, could they do this? Are they capable?  And then my 3 1/2 year old came up to me with my iPhone and asked to play "her games!"  Oh yea, the kids could do it, and boy would they be engaged!  Great idea - for accountability, teaching technology, and engagement.  I may borrow your idea.

Week 1: Wimba

One facet of the class, and of our program, that I am excited about is the Publishing/Presentation Project that we are going to be doing.  I remember this being discussed or really just briefly mentioned in one of the first Wimba sessions way back when in Month 1.  Back then the project I had in mind was going to change education, (at least in my mind) where I teach, or so I had hoped, and I was thrilled to think that Full Sail would not only offer me the education I needed to complete my project, but also assist me in publishing or presenting it in a professional environment.  This was tremendous!  Unfortunately, my administrator last year is a dinosaur; my project changed, and has since been watered down.  I am not disheartened.  It was a learning tool for me, and my students also benefitted with the learning they had with the limited technology we had access to.  I had forgotten about this aspect of our education, so I look forward to see how and if I may be able to take this project to the next level.  And if not this project, at least I will learn how to do it with the project I still have in the back of my mind!

Week 1- Readings – Copyright Issues

I'm trapped!

Wow!  This is the first thing that comes to mind.  Secondly, thank you Joe for breaking this into three parts.  I couldn’t figure out why in the beginning and now I get it.  I was overwhelmed with the amount of different aspects, viewpoints, and now thoughts I have, to copyright issues there truly are, and whether they are legal, personal, artistic, or just selfish. 

Larry Lessig from Creative Commons struck a chord with me in his TED presentation when he said,  “That we need to connect with our kids, we watched TV and they make TV.”  We can’t make them passive; we’re making them “pirates.”  Are we in a “digital prohibition?”  What an insightful and thought provoking question?   I agree that they know what they are doing – digitially – (and as seen throughout the videos) is against the law, and they don’t care.  The question is should we?

While watching about the copyright laws in particular to music I kept thinking about a conversation that my husband and I have had many times about how there is no new music trends.  Yes, I know I am old…er, but even when I listen to what my daughters listen to it is rap, pop, there is nothing really new though.  Then watching these “producers” talk about remixing music; that they are not musicians, they just produce. I was saddened about the loss of creativity of the actual musician, setting the world on fire with a new trend, style, or genre of music.  These are the artists who deserve the advantages of the copyright laws.  They are creating for the most part something from nothing (at least the riff is not copied and pasted from one track to another, they had to remember it in their head if they stole it!) 

I appreciate the cultural aspects of taking for instance US songs and adding the Brazil flair to them, but to say that the artist in Brazil is a musician, this I do not agree with.  It was not their original song.  I, who cannot hold a tune, but I can go into GarageBand and create music thanks to technology.  I may be expressing myself, but I don’t think I should be able to take the credit for the remix of Pink Floyd and Justin Bieber! 

I appreciate the laws of Fair Use, especially as an educator.  I hope they are a further extended for not only in education, but also for social and historical aspects, to serve the public.  And that copyright laws are not used as a form of censorship. 

But as all the videos and the article discuss, back to Lessig, let’s be “open for business?!”  The extremism isn’t working.  Let the artists decide on how they want to get compensated, and have the business embrace the free/freer content.  Will this work?  Will the lawyers allow this?  Will big businesses allow this?  Will the whole media playing field change?  As said in “Good Copy Bad Copy” we need to rethink how we do business and things will need to change drastically.  I found it humorous when Dr. Ferrara from NYU said that “creativity is on the line,” but I was wondering if he meant that creativity is “online!”