Copy...right

What a very interesting topic for this week! I found myself immersed in the video shown in class and the readings weren’t too bad either! I think it was definitely time to learn the particulars of copyrighting since the consequences of breaching its conventions affects me in more ways than I wish to share. Plus, I aspire to become a renowned author/ screenwriter thus…well you get the point. Anywho, I am a HUGE fan of music! I thoroughly enjoyed the remixes that were composed in the film, buuutt, getting to the relevance of its screening in class, I do agree with the notion that the conventions of copyright infringement are a bit too stringent. Based on John Feather’s Copyright and the Creation of Literary Property, the recognition of profiting from a work of art created a means of access to a more profitable way of thinking.

Copyright started off as a means to protect the authors or originators from getting their work pirated. However, the realization of profiting propagated into something much less about honoring an author’s work and more about ways to control and collect which brings me back to the video’s philosophy:

• Culture depends on the past
• Past tries to control the future
• Our future is getting less free

I have to confess that I am somewhat caught in the middle with this argument. While it is important to have some kind of regulation in tact to protect creativity, it is simultaneously putting it in a choke hold. Suffice it to say that originality is key? Let’s take a look at the case in point, music. Many of these “pop” hits are recreations of previously recorded records, and I’m not talking about just the beats or the instrumentals but the lyrics as well. Remaking old “hits” has become a very common thing to do. I just discovered that Beyoncé’s “If I Were A Boy” was originally sung by BC Jean, who also co-wrote the song. Yet, it appears that Beyoncé receives most credit for this chart topper. So, to my question with originality being the key to uphold freedom of creativity, maybe not if you’re already a renowned money producing artist. Nonetheless, even though it wasn’t her song to begin with, it was her creativity that brought it back and made it rise to the top of the charts. But what about the people that isn’t so fortunate and just wants to express their creative abilities?? I guess they will have to settle with video game systems and DJ Hero…