What is copyright?
Copyright is a form of protection obtained by owners of creative/original work that ensures other people won’t try to take their ideas. The law allows the owner of a work to also determine how other people can use it.
Why is there copyright?
Copyright exists so that working people like artists looking to promote their latest work or a company spokesperson coming up with slogans won’t have their ideas and work stolen and posted by another. This gives people security over the work that they have done, while also allowing for others to get just a glimpse at it.
How much should users of the web think about copyright as you and others share, re-share, and remix content on the web?
It’s very important that for people to keep copyright in mind when using other peoples’ content on the web, especially for sharing, re-sharing, and re-editing the work. If the owner decides to take action against you for doing so, you can be fined for a large sum of money and potentially get time in prison depending on how bad the violation is. People trying to remix content on the internet should always try to get the permission for the work’s originator, or simply credit them towards the end of the video/post/etc.
What is fair use?
Fair use is a doctrine that allows people to use brief excerpts of copyrighted material for a limited and “transformative” purpose without having to first get permission from its owner. Everything should be fine long as large chunks of the original content aren’t being included and it’s clear that the person using the work isn’t violating the originator’s copyright.
Assignment Option #1
“These tools of creativity have become tools of speech. It is a literacy for this generation. This is how our kids speak. It is how our kids think. It is what your kids are as they increasingly understand digital technologies and their relationship to themselves.”
– Lerry Lessig
I find this quote from Larry Lessig’s talk compelling because it reminds us of the importance of this technology, especially in the future generations’ lives. All of the children raised in the near future are going to be interacting with technology and the media, which is why Lessig says that these copyright laws should lay off of people a bit and allow people to show their creativity.
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Hello Justin, great take! I like how you clearly defined the terms copyright and fair use. I also like how you presented that long winded question. Your answer to that question made me think about how copyright may impact my creative work in the future. I also like that FBI copyright disclaimer that you included. That’s a classic.