Copyright revisited

This weeks essential questions are, "Do we as a global society need to rethink copyright laws?" and "What's our role as educators in copyright usage in schools?"

After our second class on copyright I feel confident that copyright law is complex and ambiguous, but I get the gist as it applies to educators in Thailand and the United States.

Another interesting question, however, is the adequacy of copyright law in the developing global society. Reading a fan site for the TV show "Lost", I ran into an interesting copyright debate. In essence, a popular vlogger (video blogger) named Seanie B read aloud the work of others without crediting them. One blogger, a freelance writer who uses a creative commons copyright notice on her website, asked him address the situation, which has now escalated into copyright infrigement claims, deletion of his YouTube account, and a whirlwind of reactions from the online fan community.

The situation highlights touches on many of the issues seen in the use of new media, the global audience for online work, and the public understanding of copyright.

Some interesting issues include:

1) Confusion over the copyrighting of ideas (theories about what the show might mean) versus the author's words.

2) The harm done to the orginial author, especially considering the important of "buzz" around one's online work and how this might influence paid positions for a freelance writer.

3) The wide range of physical lcoations of the involved parties (bloggers in the US, tipped off by a reader in Germany, berated by readers from Brazil to Kuwait, etc.)

4) Confusion regarding the source of copyright infringement (assuming that ABC is targetting the vlog for use of copyrighted images and screencaps, etc.) and feeling that "COPYRIGHT SUCKS" and is a fight against "the man" or some similar monolithic evil.

5) Personal attacks against all parties involved, including comments such as:

"Seanie I am missing you’re video’s little buddy. that Erika b--ch is just trying to steel you’re spotlight doesn’t she know that anything on the internet is FREE that is what the internet is for. She doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Hope the video’s are up again soon buddy."

6) The idea that anything online is free from copyright (as seen above).

7) The interesting (and brief) use of "Been Caught Stealing" by Jane's Addiction in the video exposing Seanie B's alleged copyright infringment and whether that constitutes fair use or infringement in its own right.

Overall, I found reading about the situation very interesting in light of our copyright discussions, and think it highlights the need for education about copyright in school. In particular, it would be positive to move beyond the sense of fear and oppresion that surrounds copyright. We could try to help students see the value of attempting to balance the rights of creators and users of content. However copyright evolves, it is most likely to be successful if people understand and buy into its purpose.