This morning as I dozed in bed, listening to National Public Radio on my alarm clock, I heard a story that lit a spark in my brain--perfect for our class on copyright tomorrow! I thought. So here it is...along with some other important discussions of the complications of copyright law in our digital, mashup, remix world, as well as the implications of the rules on our lives as media consumers, bloggers and website builders.
1. "Music in Political Campaigns 101," from NPR's Morning Edition, 2-29-12: Many musicians have taken politicians to court throughout the years for using their copyrighted songs without permission. Do you think the law makes sense? Or should it be changed?
2. "Larry Lessig on Laws that Choke Creativity--a TED Talk," March 2007. Lawrence Lessig is the author of Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy. Lessig has been called the "most important thinker on intellectual property in the digital age" and claims that our country's "war of prohibition" on file sharing has been a failure, turning teenagers who share music files into criminals. He urges us to ditch old, restrictive copyright laws and formulate new ways to ensure that "stuff that should be paid for" is paid for and "things that should be free" are freely shared. Do you agree with Lessig? Where do you see merit in his argument? Where do you see problems or snags?
3. Creative Commons video: "A Shared Culture." When have you come up against questions about whether and how you could use someone else's creative work? What did you decide?
Terms and concepts you should be familiar with:
fair use, Creative Commons, copyright v. plaigiarism
My earlier blog entries that address this issue:
"Copyright in a Remix Culture"
1. "Music in Political Campaigns 101," from NPR's Morning Edition, 2-29-12: Many musicians have taken politicians to court throughout the years for using their copyrighted songs without permission. Do you think the law makes sense? Or should it be changed?
2. "Larry Lessig on Laws that Choke Creativity--a TED Talk," March 2007. Lawrence Lessig is the author of Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy. Lessig has been called the "most important thinker on intellectual property in the digital age" and claims that our country's "war of prohibition" on file sharing has been a failure, turning teenagers who share music files into criminals. He urges us to ditch old, restrictive copyright laws and formulate new ways to ensure that "stuff that should be paid for" is paid for and "things that should be free" are freely shared. Do you agree with Lessig? Where do you see merit in his argument? Where do you see problems or snags?
3. Creative Commons video: "A Shared Culture." When have you come up against questions about whether and how you could use someone else's creative work? What did you decide?
Terms and concepts you should be familiar with:
fair use, Creative Commons, copyright v. plaigiarism
My earlier blog entries that address this issue:
"Copyright in a Remix Culture"
