Comment to Rowdy Granado
Rowdy Granado says:
May 4, 2011 at 12:08 am
Yes, Fair Use and Copyright are like the Mythological Hydra, once you cut one of the heads off it, there are new rules and restrictions from being able to use, reproduce or remix media.
I know Michael George III stated that it was hard to track down ownership and establish how works are actually Copyrighted. Well, about 12 years ago (obviously, may have changed) I spoke to someone in the offices that dealt with legal Copyright. There is a proper form and manner in which to fill out. However, they also informed me that if I simply placed the Copyright symbol (the ‘C’ within a circle) and the year of production, my work would “legally” be copyrighted even without proper documentation in their office. So, I can clearly see where Michael’s frustration comes from when dealing with ownership or tracking them down.
Judy De Los Santos says:
May 7, 2011 at 12:58 am
Yes, tracking people down can be quite a challenge. I’ve tried it before. Placing the copyright c and the date should be accompanied with up to date contact information. Although I can see both sides of the issue, it would be nice if the up to date information were required and some of the copyright protection would be lost if the contact information were not up to date. Then it would be fair game for fair use. But one can only dream.
Comment to Michael George
Michael George III says:
May 3, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Don’t even get me started on ‘fair use’. One thing that really irks me about copyright law is that ‘fair use’ is a defense but not a right. Lawyers and copyright holders do not respect ‘fair use’ exemptions like parody. For example, I create original parody videos and post them to YouTube like this one:
Mein Superintendent
Each time I post a parody video on Youtube, I get hit with a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notice by the copyright owner. This is clearly not the full-length movie. It is clearly subtitled. It is clearly a very short excerpt. It is clearly not something that could be confused with the original work or diminishes its value. Yet, every single time I post a parody, I get threatened for infringement.
YouTube labs has a great video on challenging a takedown notice under the “fair use” provisions to copyright like parody (in case this should ever happen to you.)
Know Your Meme: Challenging a YouTube Take Down with Fair Use
I have never lost on challenge, but it is just another hassle under our current system. YouTube must respond to all DMCA notices and remove potentially infringing material to comply with the Safe Harbor provisions.
Yet another thing that bothers me about copyright is there is no clear registry of ownership like in the patent system. This is a huge problem in the software industry. As companies file bankruptcy and have their assets parted out to creditors ownership becomes murky. Even if you wanted to legally use or re-release old games or software, it is nearly impossible to track down who even own the rights. I feel that in copyright law that if a product is not offered for sale after a period of 10-years than it automatically falls into the ‘public domain’. This would solve so many problems and we could then play all those 8-bit video games again from our childhood.
Copyright was put in place to develop our culture, but instead it starting to stifle us because we can’t re-use, re-mix, and even resurrect software that has long been abandoned. It’s just like the videotape library shown in the movie Good Copy/Bad Copy. Piles and piles of historical footage locked up forever because of copyright. A new balance needs to be struck and fair use needs to become a clearly articulated cultural right.
Reply
Brian Thomas says:
May 4, 2011 at 5:16 pm
That video is hilarious! Nice work! And thanks for the info on how to fight the takedown.
Jim Farmer says:
May 5, 2011 at 12:01 am
Mein Superintendent is HILARIOUS!!!! Thank you for sharing that.
I also think that a new balance needs to be struck. The scales are completely off and need to be brought back to a fair medium.
Zoe Marlowe says:
May 6, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Hi Michael,
Your post here is absolutely fascinating to me! Wow! I had no idea that you could not do the parodies using clips like that. By the way your parody was hilarious, I really enjoyed it, and it was just so perfect! I did not realize you could get threatened for infringement by doing that, I have seen so many video parodies and also audio ones as well, and I was unaware that there was such controversy over it. This is all sounding like ‘unfair use’ to me after reading your writing here. A key statement by you really resonated with me: “…another thing that bothers me about copyright is there is no clear registry of ownership like in the patent system.” This makes it all the more insane that you would be threatened by YouTube for infringement. I think it is all very convoluted isn’t it? Thanks for educating us here! Live and learn!
Judy De Los Santos says:
May 6, 2011 at 11:34 pm
Those videos were great and Mein Superintendent was so funny. The Know Your Meme video belongs right up there with the other videos above. What a shame that future generations will miss out on so much because of these laws. Maybe then they could get and play those 8-bit games legally.
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