Oct 03 2010
Copyright framing.
“Copyright” is a scary word in the media world. Freaks me out. There are the obvious rules and there’s fair use, but even those seem kind translucent to me. Of course, there’s also the philosophy of “if you aren’t SURE, don’t use it,” but either way, you lose. Say there’s a song or movie clip out there you REALLY want to use under fair use and you don’t because you’re not sure, then you miss out. If you use it and accidentally violate copyright law, you could get in pretty big trouble. Like being thrown in jail.
So copyright is scary. I’m telling you. And reading about it, I figured I’d drop a few questions about the subject. Here we go:
Internet video sites like YouTube and Vimeo are blowing UP these days. Anybody can post and view anything, and sharing is everywhere. How will the continuing development of these video sites affect copyright law and vice versa?
Copyright has been a sensitive word in the music industry since Napster rocked it like a hurricane 10 years ago. Now record companies put blocks on CDs and MP3s so that they cannot be reproduced from their original source. How would burning and copying CDs be a violation of copyright law, and do you think that these blocks are fair?
I saw “The Social Network” this weekend, which features two lawsuits Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg dealt with upon the success of the site. Both involved parties claiming he used their ideas. How can anyone know exactly WHO the original author was in cases like this? And do you think there’s any way to know the real truth?