The PEN story: another YouTube Dilemma

A Filmbot RT Twitter notes The PEN story controversy, which was discussed by PDN in Did Olympus Steal Idea for Viral Ad About EP-1 Camera? (UPDATED) and Gizmodo in Olympus Stop Motion E-P1 Ad Concept Is Clever (Also, Stolen).

This topic ("great artists steal") was discussed with many examples at Creative Review in May; see The YouTube Dilemma for creatives.

Also of note is an open blog ‘you thought we wouldn’t notice’ that's dedicated to pointing out these things (via El Gordo).

The YouTube Dilemma for creatives

Via Motionographer is The YouTube Dilemma from Creative Review. Here's an excerpt and example:

"YouTube provides a steady stream of inspiration to advertising creatives, but it also leaves young directors vulnerable to having ideas stolen and agencies open to accusations of plagiarism. How can both directors and agencies protect themselves?"

YouTube's January Fair Use Massacre

Watching TV Online notes YouTube's January Fair Use Massacre from Electronic Frontier Foundation, which notes that YouTube's automated copyright filtering system ("Content ID tool") even censors teenagers singing "Winter Wonderland."

Also, from the cloud, the Wall Street Journal talks about "transformative" vs. "just stealing" in Color This Area of the Law Gray. Other recent news items in copyright and fair use were posted here.

Remixing Colbert & Lessig

Along the lines of a yesterday's post on Copyright Criminals and RiP: A Remix Manifesto... Lawrence Lessig appeared on The Colbert Report last week. The seriously funny Colbert challenged remixers "not to remix" the segment to great dance beats. Lessig and a Comedy Central blog has The Inevitable Colbert/Lessig Remixes.

Here's Lessig on Colbert:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Lawrence Lessig

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Here's a Lessig talk at TED:



Fair Use is part of copyright law. Here's an explanation from The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education by Center for Social Media:



Update: Oddly, even using headlines and linking to articles is up in the air -- see Lawsuit over website links in spotlight, Copyright violation or fair use to be decided at The Boston Globe.

Update: WSJ talks about "transformative" vs. "just stealing" in Color This Area of the Law Gray.

Copyright Criminals: a new documentary

Speaking of YouTube audio filtering... There's a new documentary being finished:

'Copyright Criminals: This Is a Sampling Sport examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money.

This documentary traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.'

It's mostly a fine line even if Coldplay/Eno-type excesses seem clear; pay-to-play, or payola, is a game of finesse. Here's the trailer:




Update: Via Infinicine and Shooting People, here's a similar project from another musical genre, RiP: A Remix Manifesto (director's blog):



Update: note also Good Copy Bad Copy.

EFF critical of Flash Video DRM

from Last 100:

"In a recent blog post, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Seth Schoen lays out a number of criticisms of Adobe’s push to introduce Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology into its Flash Video and accompanying Flash Media Server products. If DRM was to become commonplace for Flash Video (the dominant format for streaming video on the Web e.g. YouTube) then it would stifle competition and dramatically hinder the burgeoning “remix” culture that the Internet has spawned, argues Schoen."

Read more of EFF critical of Flash Video DRM at Last100. NewTeeVee also has coverage in EFF Stirs Fear of Flash DRM.

Update: it might be interesting to compare the Adobe and Apple approach; see for example, Apple patent hints at a future of podcasting mash-ups at Last 100.

A Fair(y) Use Tale

A Fair(y) Use Tale, by Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University, is a humorous & informative review of copyright principles delivered through the words of the very folks we can thank for nearly endless copyright terms (mp4 hosted at Stanford Law School).




Another similar view is given in The Disney Trap: How Copyright Steals our Stories.



Also noted by The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford: Marilyn Monroe In The Public Domain

Fair Use Explained

via Sheila Curran Bernard, author of Documentary Storytelling: Making Stronger and More Dramatic Nonfiction Films:

Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use is a useful handbook from veteran filmmakers to help other filmmakers understand some instances where using copyrighted material without clearance is considered fair use.

Broadcast Flag flies again

via Stop Me Before I Vote Again...

Broadcast Flag flies again:
'And to no-one's surprise, "The audio flag provision, written by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), has the full support of the Recording Industry Association of America."...

By a startling coincidence, [media] cartel support for Boxer is rising. This year she's so far received a massive $750,660 from the movie, music and tv industries, says opensecrets.com. In the 2004 cycle, she clocked up $740,260, and in 2002, $485,340.'

more at Ars Technica and EFF...
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