Thursday, February 10, 2011
Copyright links
Thanks to Carlos Ovalle for speaking with us today, and you HAVE to watch this video, it's a great discussion of copyright.
Carlos' presentation can be found at
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~cjovalle/presentations/digitization/
and his copyright module is located at
https://cyberspace.ischool.utexas.edu/course/copyright/intro.php
Feel free to reference this video in your discussion board posting,
Thanks!
Q
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Okay, I have a few problems with this presentation. Indulge me in playing devil's advocate for a moment.
ReplyDeleteThe comparison of the fashion industry to the music industry is fine up to a point. Artists already copy one another to a great degree without copyright coming into play. Angus Young hasn't been sued for bastardizing Chuck Berry riffs, for example. Sure, there are absurd examples like John Fogerty being sued for plagiarizing himself, but currently the issue of copying in the music industry isn't about artists stealing IDEAS from one another, but about the copying of RECORDINGS.
The comparison of the low to high IP protection industries, especially the chart shown, was really intellectually dishonest as far as I'm concerned. You can't compare industries like food, automobiles, and fashion, that sell tangible goods, to industries like the music and film industries that sell (or used to sell) digital goods that can be copied exactly at no cost. It is really a false equivalency. It's one thing to say that high-end fashion designers can still sell their goods even though low-quality knock-offs are also on the market. It would be a different thing entirely if people could somehow download exact copies of the designer clothes for free. Would people still pay for them then?
Food is an even worse example. If you could push a button and get the same ice cream you buy at the grocery store for free, would you continue to pay for it at the grocery store? Almost all of the examples the speaker used of industries with low IP protection (fashion, automobiles, food, fireworks) sell items that cannot be replicated digitally. Open source software is the only example given that was an exception.
I agree that American copyright law is in serious need of reform, but I question if the way the issue is approached in this video is really realistic.
(Wait - am I supposed to post comments responding to this on Blackboard?)
ReplyDeleteHey John, these comments would have better visibility for the class on Blackboard, and you make some very good points. But you also commented on BBoard as well, so ahead of the game you are.
ReplyDeleteI'm still mulling over your thoughts, especially the notion of tangible goods v. digital goods. There is a "cost to copy" factor at play here, and you are quite correct to point it out. You make some excellent insightful points here... and your point about "false equivalency" is a good one.
I think the duration of copyright coverage, and the potential harm this can have for the cultural record, are my big problems with current copyright law. It's a complex issue, and your argument reveals even more of the complexity.
Thanks!
Q
Q