This week we had the opportunity to become more familiar, and hopefully more comfortable with copyright law. If it wasn't relevant to us already, it is about to be. We're about to become ProdUsers and add our own content online. Before doing so, we need to determine how we feel about others sharing, using, adding to, and/or modifying the content we create and share.
In the spirit of believing in the power of sharing, and that "knowledge is power", when it comes to creating educational content, at this point, I think I am comfortable with my work being published under the creative commons category.
When it comes to works of art, my opinion shifts dramatically though. For musicians especially, it is rare to be able to do what you love and excel at and also be making money off of it. If you are, then you are the exception. I feel that things don't have to be that way, but as a society, perhaps we have come to expect that our talented nephew will play guitar for free at our next party because he'll love the "exposure", or that our beloved Aunt Lisa would love to take our prom photos for free, because she's a nice lady and she loves us. While imaginary Aunt Lisa would probably love to do a million things for us for free, why do we expect her to do the one thing she does for money, as a respected and professional individual for free? We don't expect doctors to diagnose us for free, or teachers to stay up late grading our papers because "the children are our future!" so the idea of asking an artist to do this seems insulting.
It is not all bad. Allowing others to use your work or modify it opens up the floodgates of creativity. It encourages collaboration with other artists, and is a great tool for self promotion. I'm always going to choose the free photos I have been pre-authorized to use over the photos I need to ask permission to use or pay for before using. In doing so, am I undercutting those who have vowed to retain all rights and only allow use when they have been paid accordingly? On this I have mixed feelings...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_major_Creative_Commons_licensed_works
^This list contains everything from educational materials, to comics, albums, videos, and recipes.
Here is a recent example of an artist's work being used without their permission:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/6890288/ted-cruz-explosions-sky-video-campaign-greg-abbott-your-hand-mine-texas
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound, or, if you use copyrighted material without permission, and no one finds out, are you really doing any harm? This is a complicated issue with many sides. Though the answer may be simple and straightforward, web 2.0 and the shifting ways we consume and produce content has complicated the matter slightly. Please share your insight in the comments below.
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