Copyrighting is and will always be a big issue that presents itself to society. In the article “Cultures Compared,” it discusses two different types of culture which I find very interesting. The first people the culture that is solely fueled by professional (RO- Read Only) and the second culture people the culture fueled by both professionals and amatuers (RW- Read/Write). Both of these cultures have a large impact on how we receive important knowledge or how we create expression. Though both of these cultures touches us in a different ways it is still important to acknowledge both of them.
In the other article “Remix Planet” it discusses and shows us the way pop culture is reassembled or in other words, remixed. Here it provides examples of different items we see in pop culture that were remixed. In this day in age we are constantly seeing remixes in TV shows, movies, songs, and many more things. The amount that goes into these creations are very impressive and really show the talent these artists have.
In the modern society copyright plays a big role. Social media is everywhere and we all use it for everyday activities and for things for school and work. When I think of copyright I notice the important of the laws for a couple of reasons. Someone can spend a great deal of time working on a project, release it, and then immediately get their work stolen because they did not have copyright protection. Most people would not even want to produce these creative works if they knew that they would not get profit from all of their hard work. If I had an idea and posted it to social media before I had copyright protection all of my hard work would go down and almost be a waste of time. Though at points copyright regulations do limit creativity in a way I still think it is important to have these regulations. I believe the risk of someone stealing your work is more worrisome. Also having these copyright protection regulations to an extent gives people the push to be more creative and to create something of their own. I do believe that current copyright regulation should not be changed and should just stay the same because it helps create creative expression and making something out of your own ideas.
Kaitlyn, I completely agree that copyrighting is a huge issue in society today. In 2009, the estimated value of cross-border trade in counterfeit and pirated physical goods was $250 billion dollars (Counterfeiting Statistics)! Check out the infographic on this site http://www.go-gulf.com/blog/online-piracy/. It is incredible that 70% of online users find nothing wrong with online piracy! I think your statement that “most people would not even want to produce these creative works if they knew that they would not get profit from all of their hard work” best explains the high statistics. It is the producer of the works or content that is losing value not the end, online, user. To me, copyright is the exact same as producing fake counterfeit items such as the fake Uggs or Nike brand shoes you can find in other countries. While you believe that current copyright regulations should not be changed, I think Lessig brings up a great point. The intentions of remixing are completely different then the intentions of pirating or producing counterfeit items. Lessig suggests that “taking and re-creating using other peoples content and digital content to say something differently” should be acceptable. I encourage you to consider that perhaps this “non-commercial” use can be something that copyright laws allow in the future.
Sources:
Counterfeiting Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved May 29, 2015, from http://www.iacc.org/counterfeiting-statistics
Lessig, Lawrence. “Laws That Choke Creativity.” TED. March 1, 2007. Accessed May 27, 2015. http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity?language=en#t-961779.