Thoughts on Copy Right Law, Fair Use, and Creative Commons
I reviewed the necessary materials although the Disney one A Fair(y) Use Tale was very difficult to listen to and understand. I get that based on copyright laws you are able to use small (in this case very small, sometimes only one word) clips or portions of something copyrighted was the principle behind the story. See for yourself I’m not losing it!
My impression of copyright laws area that they need to be there otherwise everyone would be using and/or claiming rights to anything that goes big. This narrows it down and limits the chance of that happening. Copyright laws also give the person an opportunity to earn the money on the item such as a book an author has written that the copyright is protecting. I think the “fixed” period of 14-years was a good notion but then a lifetime + 70-years is a little beyond. You can copyright things like books, movies, pictures, and music. If I ever follow my dream and write a book or even a series of books I would want them copyrighted. Remember though “ideas” don’t seem to be something that could be copyrighted and rightfully so!
Fair use to me makes sense as it gives an instructor the ability to share pieces of great works in the classroom. A paragraph or a little more when compared to the size of the work. Some authors, artists, and educators actually want what they have done to be shared to an extent because it is an effective tool for learning or sends a specific message. However, they are still protected and have their freedoms in place.
An alternative to the original copyright is creative commons. I am not to sure about this one! But it seems logical and acceptable that the owner of a piece of work can retain what rights he/she wants but then can allow some of them to be released. I agree that the purpose of this would be to be able to share more and of course sharing is a good thing as we all know from our mom! I would think it would take a smart person in order to maintain the right balance of what to keep and what to share. Making certain that what you share is worth it to the ones you are sharing with also would weigh in.