Week 6 Response

I’m going to start my response this week with a discussion of “The Social Network,” the Facebook movie that was released last weekend. In my framing questions, I asked how copyright will change how future generations will consume and use media. The movie calls into question issues of fair use and intellectual property. Supposedly, Mark Zucherberg was approached by twin brothers, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to create a dating site for Harvard. Mark took this idea and created Facebook, giving no credit to the guys who originally had the idea.

The question isn’t whether Mark Zucherberg’s actions were unethical, but whether the Winklevoss’ had a claim to Facebook. NO. They did not. You cannot copyright an idea! They brought it to Zucherberg and he put his own twist on it and coded and created the most influential social networking tool of a generation. In relating “The Social Network” to Lessig’s Remix, I am reminded of our discussion about respect for laws. Although Zucherberg didn’t break the law, our culture has promoted a system that encourages the sharing and taking of ideas to create content and technology.

I also asked about how we can revamp the copyright system in a way that is beneficial to both the creators and the users. The answer is that I don’t know if we can. As a student, I am all for fair use and information existing in the public domain. As an artist, I am more adept to believe that we should protect the creators of content. It’s a double edged sword. I don’t necessarily think we should decriminalize file sharing and copyright as Lessig suggests. We should just improve the system by making what is protected and what isn’t a little looser. The best comparison I can give is that to the “war on drugs.” Yes, heroin and crack cocaine should be illegal. But marijuana probably shouldn’t be illegal. Likewise, taking part of a book and reselling it as your own work should be illegal. Pulling a photo from a website and using it on your blog should not.

Case in point: the photo I used in this post. Is it copyrighted? Probably. Is Facebook going to come after me and smite me? I hope not! Do a quick search of “The Social Network movie” on Google and this image appears dozens of times. The frequency of appearance and popularity should  mean that this photo is in the public domain. Maybe I’m just not completely clear on all of the copyright laws and maybe I didn’t violate any rules by using the photo in this post– but even if I did, we need to consider that I’m using it for educational purposes to illustrate a point. That makes it fair use, right? This is what Lessig is arguing for– we need a more clear cut system to make sure that users and creators are protected. Until that time, our culture is kind of in limbo– as a student I don’t know what I can use and as a creator I don’t know what is protected. The need for revision is there; now it’s up to lawmakers and creators to take the next step and improve the system.

Tags: copyright, facebook, intellectual property, Lessig, remix