Fandom An Unexpected Journey: Copyright revisited...

“Demonstrating respect for intellectual property is legally and ethically the right thing to do…” Copyright Clearance Centre YouTube Video

I am kind of surprised at how many people don’t understand, nor really care about copyright and fair usage when viewing video materials online. Yet they claim to be some of the biggest lovers of the work created around. So I went looking on YouTube for some videos that tell the story of copyright and fair usage in an interesting way and a way that written material doesn’t. I found some fun and interesting videos made by credible organisations. I was also surprised at how many people are interested in copyright and doing the right thing by the number of hits on each video.

Obviously each social media site has its own rules and regulations concerning copyright on content and as users it is our responsibility to find out about how it will affect the content we use, create and display. I began by watching copyright videos made by YouTube, including YouTube Copyright Basics (Global), YouTube Copyright Basics and YouTube Copyright School. The videos created by YouTube state to me YouTube doesn’t take copyright seriously. Nor are they interested in explaining copyright to its users, nor do they have a clear perception of what copyright and fair usage is. To me, YouTube seems to treat copyright as a bit of a joke and a boring topic and as a consequence perpetuate ignorance and bad digital citizenship among it’s users. I therefore understand how YouTube users can have problems with the content they watch and distribute even though their hearts may be in the right places when it comes to using, creating and distributing content.

@Lyndahere is a career bootlegger and pirate who copies other people’s creative work and content without their permission, changes content, makes derivative works and distributes content whether the legal content owners want it or not. @Lyndahere has frequently complained on Twitter and Facebook about people using ‘her work’. A couple of days ago she wrote a response to a comment made by mic.com about Facebook and copyright “That Facebook ‘Copyright Protection’ Message is Garbage so ‘Stop Posting It’. She responded by writing “Put succinctly, FB is a big dickhead who can use your info and what you post whether you want to or not. And the only way to keep FB from doing that is not to be on FB.” On the one hand it seems alright for her do what she wants in regard to other people’s content, but not alright for other people to take her content and use it how they want.

On the 6 November, 2014 @Lyndahere recorded and distributed links to a pirated copy of a CBC Canada segment via Facebook and Twitter. Despite the fact she knew there was a legal copy immediately after, she let the post remain and has continued to collect hits for her YouTube site Between the Rock. She collected over 3000 hits that technically belonged to CBC Canada for content she did not create nor had permission to distribute. @Lyndahere knew the comments on her Facebook page that said the video could not be seen legally outside of Canada were not true. She acknowledged this on Twitter and circulated a legal copy. She did nothing to edit them, remove them or the pirated report. Nor has she distributed a link to the legal content on Facebook. In these circumstances she used Facebook in to her own advantage.

On her Facebook page she wrote on the 6 November 2014 “Alan post this link for an online clip and Rick Mercer’s Petty Harbour fishing (and eating and singing) trip for CBC’s Rick Mercer Report.

It’s gorgeous…and only can be seen inside Canada (and provided the link).

Slightly less gorgeous – but considerably more accessible to all – is this recorded-from-the- broadcast (sorry, non-HD) version (and provided the link).

Canadians – Be smart (an as Alan’s Mom would say Be Good) and watch the CBC clip Alan shared. Not only is the quality better, the website traffic should go to CBC from the people CBC is letting see the clip”.

I hope some of these videos on YouTube help people understand copyright and fair usage.

In a video Copyright Basics (a link is provided below) created by the Copyright Clearance Center in the United States explain how copyright is automatic when a work is captured in a fix format either written down or recorded and are protected by copyright law. The copyright holders have the exclusive right to perform, display, copy, distribute and create derivative works.

Copyright Is...: http://youtu.be/8J7styDOUwY

Copyright Basics: http://youtu.be/Uiq42O6rhW4

In certain circumstances people do not require the copyright holder’s permission to use the work. People can use the work for parody, news reporting, commentary, scholarly research, and education. Under fair usage there are four factors which need to be taken into consideration when using a work. These are

· the purpose and character of the use,

· the nature of the copyrighted work,

· the amount and substantial of the work and

· the effect of the use on the marketability of the work.

The Copyright Clearance Centre argues most people do not intentionally violate copyright and do it as they go about their daily activities. Copyright does matter because it is the law and it is unlawful to infringe on the copyright holders rights, it’s ethical to demonstrate respect for the copyright holder’s rights and is the right thing to do and the royalties we pay enable more work to be created.

The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Videos by the Centre For Media and Social Input at the School of Communication at the American University in Washington DC is an interesting video that explains fair usage in a video remix culture and creativity.

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Vid…: http://youtu.be/N-jsOrOVzG4

There are situations where fair usage for online video users and outlines them in online usage. They provide situations where fair usage is acceptable. They are

· comment and critiquing on copyrighted material,

· using copyrighted material for illustration and example,

· copying copyrighted material incidentally or accidentally,

· reproducing, reposting, or quoting in order to memorialize, preserve, or rescue an experience, an event, or a cultural phenomenon,

· copying, restoring, and recirculating a work or part of a work for purposes of launching a discussion

· quoting in order to recombine elements to make a new work that depends for its meaning on (often unlikely) relationships between the elements.

What was interesting about reading the categories of fair usage was their limitations. The authors of the video state “this code of practice is not a blank check for copyright. To be within copyright, the work needs to be transformative, the amount that is copied is used in proportion to the purpose and always give credit to your sources”.

References

Center For Media and Social Impact (2008). Code of Best Practices in Fair Use For Online Video. at hhtp://ww.cmsimpact.org

Fandom An Unexpected Journey

Thursday 11 December 2014

Copyright revisited...

Fandom, An Unexpected Journey 600 Blog Posts... Thank You !