MAC wk 1 reading: To Copy or Not To Copy?

That is a big question in today's society. Teaching the "instant gratification, I'll-take-what-I-can-get-without-ramifications" generation Graphic Design and Illustration is an interesting task. And Copyright Infringement and Fair Use is a big part of that equation.

One of the first units I teach my students is about Copyright, Fair Use and Plagarism. My students come to me with the idea that it's already been done so I'll just take it redo/remix it and call it mine. Which sedgeways' into an eye opening discussion that starts like this. Pedro, what would you do if Luciano pirates $1,000.00 from you? Pedro says Luci wouldn't pirate from me. And I tell him, you know that flow you came up with in class the other day? Pedro says yeah. Man, that was some nice work. And I told him you know I was surfing on YouTube and I saw Luci and his posse doing the same flow but added a couple of beats to it. Your name isn't anywhere on the video as the original musician. Now, Luci tells me a record producer saw it and wants him to do it on a CD. The Producer says he's going to make Luci rich. Now, did Luci pirate $1,000.00 from you?

This takes us down a journey of understanding by determining who owns what. If we create it we can protect it. Why do we want to protect it? Because it’s money in our pocket! It doesn’t matter if it is a flow made in class, an illustration made on the computer, a play written for English class. If you create it and someone wants to publish or buy it, you should get compensated. I then ask my class, how many of you have CD/DVD’s you got off the Internet? Naturally, most raise their hands. I then explain that by pirating that piece, you have now committed a crime. You have stolen money or the livelihood of that Artist.

Dan Glickman of the MPAA boiled it down to the idea that the founding fathers of America wanted to protect creator’s rights. If you create it, if someone else wants to use it, you should get compensated for it.

The Internet has opened up a whole new arena for theft. The Pirate Party in Sweden would have us believe that the sharing of information should be unrestricted. That this sharing of information doesn’t hurt anyone. I can agree with that mantra to a degree. However, when that information is a piece created by someone else AND the hosting site is making money off of it then restrictions should be in place to protect the creator and the production company. The bottom line of piracy is that it is affecting the bottom line. The video “Good Copy Bad Copy” really brought this home to me when they stated that annually, $7 billion dollars and 1,000s of jobs are lost because of piracy. I think next year, I will add this little tidbit of information to my discussion. Of course giving full credit to the video.