Saturday, May 7, 2011

Week 1 Response to Michael George's Copyright Post

Michael:
I had no idea that the parodoy police were actually out there. Your videos are hilarious, and clearly not a copyright issue at all. Anyone who has seen one could clearly see that it was a spoof and it no way intended to portray itself in any other way. Ridiculous! After reading and watching this week's material I also thought there has to be a better way. It does seem that the patent system is more clearly defined. I agree that there needs to be a revisit to the current copyright laws so that they better fit today's global society. 

"Wk1 Reading: Copyright Issues part 2: What the Heck is Fair Use? http://proudrooster.blogspot.com/2011/05/wk1-reading-copyright-issues-part-2.html

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."


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