This week’s readings have seen my thinking shift from a hardline stance about copyright to one that welcomes remixes and mash-ups.
As a teacher-librarian I was always promoting the importance of protecting copyright and following the rules around ownership to both staff and students. Then as an Instructional leader for the board I became even more aware of the legal ramifications of “copying”. After the plagiarism scandal with our director Chris Spence, copyright and ownership were very high priorities for all of us at the board. We were determined to make sure our students were well versed on the proper permissions for posting something - especially online. Creative Commons is a place we always try to promote as it supports a sharing and derivative culture.
I found Kirby Fergusen’s videos helped me to realize just how much “sampling” happens, especially in music. I can’t believe Led Zeppelin was so open about using other musicians tracks and not giving them credit. I wonder if they ever paid tribute in other ways to the original artists?
The idea from Ferguson that there are no new ideas and we just build upon our influences makes sense. We can only start from what we know and what it is our knowledge banks. Then we build upon them to create something new. What determines if the new product is a success is the “stickiness”.
Carolyn’s article was also fascinating as I went through all of the different youtube videos to get a better understanding of remixes. I laughed so hard at the Downfall parodies and really enjoyed the great creativity and skills people used in their versions. It reminded me this past year of Bruno Mar’s Uptown Funk song. People from all over the world did remixes to the song and posted them on YouTube. Each one demonstrated their talent and creativity, that would not have been seen in our daily lives.
http://www.remixrelease.com/top-10-mark-ronson-and-bruno-mars-uptown-funk-remixes/
The Life in the Day piece was also a fantastic to watch, especially after hearing how people from the developing world sent in their contributions to be included. I think this may have encouraged the development of the app called “One Second Everyday” which records 1 second of video that can be mashed together into a film.
From there, I explored the Guggenheim YouTube award winning clips and was amazed at some of the work. It was interesting to hear about the “highbrow” and “lowbrow” analysis. To me it is becoming more evident that sites such as YouTube must have freedom from copyright infringement issues so that the “participation gap” can be closed.
When people from different parts of life are able to create and share their work, they should be free to do so in order to express themselves and their beliefs. It is only when all societies are given this freedom that democracy will be realized. If people do not have rich media sources to support them and share their stories, then YouTube should be an open place available for all. Once we as a society accept this notion, then all citizens of the world will be able to learn from each other and build something even better.
I love when my thinking shifts!
As a teacher-librarian I was always promoting the importance of protecting copyright and following the rules around ownership to both staff and students. Then as an Instructional leader for the board I became even more aware of the legal ramifications of “copying”. After the plagiarism scandal with our director Chris Spence, copyright and ownership were very high priorities for all of us at the board. We were determined to make sure our students were well versed on the proper permissions for posting something - especially online. Creative Commons is a place we always try to promote as it supports a sharing and derivative culture.
I found Kirby Fergusen’s videos helped me to realize just how much “sampling” happens, especially in music. I can’t believe Led Zeppelin was so open about using other musicians tracks and not giving them credit. I wonder if they ever paid tribute in other ways to the original artists?
The idea from Ferguson that there are no new ideas and we just build upon our influences makes sense. We can only start from what we know and what it is our knowledge banks. Then we build upon them to create something new. What determines if the new product is a success is the “stickiness”.
Carolyn’s article was also fascinating as I went through all of the different youtube videos to get a better understanding of remixes. I laughed so hard at the Downfall parodies and really enjoyed the great creativity and skills people used in their versions. It reminded me this past year of Bruno Mar’s Uptown Funk song. People from all over the world did remixes to the song and posted them on YouTube. Each one demonstrated their talent and creativity, that would not have been seen in our daily lives.
http://www.remixrelease.com/top-10-mark-ronson-and-bruno-mars-uptown-funk-remixes/
The Life in the Day piece was also a fantastic to watch, especially after hearing how people from the developing world sent in their contributions to be included. I think this may have encouraged the development of the app called “One Second Everyday” which records 1 second of video that can be mashed together into a film.
From there, I explored the Guggenheim YouTube award winning clips and was amazed at some of the work. It was interesting to hear about the “highbrow” and “lowbrow” analysis. To me it is becoming more evident that sites such as YouTube must have freedom from copyright infringement issues so that the “participation gap” can be closed.
When people from different parts of life are able to create and share their work, they should be free to do so in order to express themselves and their beliefs. It is only when all societies are given this freedom that democracy will be realized. If people do not have rich media sources to support them and share their stories, then YouTube should be an open place available for all. Once we as a society accept this notion, then all citizens of the world will be able to learn from each other and build something even better.
I love when my thinking shifts!