MAC_Week1_ Comment #1

@Paul DeVoto_ Blog text.

After watching the myriad of videos on copyright, I still have questions, and that’s just not right, man!

As an educator in today’s digital age, I want my students to engage in digital content in a way that inspires them to bring their best to the world. I want them to able to reuse, remix, and add onto inspiring media that they connect with without having to worry about legal trouble.

Watching the videos about copyright, it is clear that there needs to be a balance between remix-freedom and copyright violation. A personal example I can relate to has to do with music. My friend's band, Alma Desnuda, has music for sale through iTunes, Amazon, and other online sites. If somebody were to put one of their songs online, it would take away from valuable revenue that they need to make it. So where is the balance?

That's hard to determine, especially since some unwarranted usage can actually increase exposure and therefore awareness of your brand. An example that comes to mind is the Chris Brown song that was played for this wedding video. The wedding video actually generated a lot of buzz for that song! So by having his copy-righted music used in this way, he actually benefitted.

As many of my peers have said, it's a fascinating debate and I'm interested in seeing where it goes.

My Comment to @ Paul DeVoto 

Hi Paul! I completely share the idea with you that students must have access to different kinds of media that can really engage them and make them feel creative and not with the fear of infringing anyone’s rights. People need to feel free to become creative. But it is important that freedom goes hand in hand with the responsibility and respect to follow the rules on how to use someone else’s material.

I think that any idea can’t coexist by itself, as it needs to feed or be fed by other ideas. This digital era has come with requirements to share and collaborate with others. People need to change their minds and begin to know how to share their work in a way that they can still be recognized, respected, and paid for the part or version they had the initiative to create. That is why I think that creative commons is a better legal frame to protect a work but also to share your work with others.