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ramblings on copyright

ramblings on copyright published on No Comments on ramblings on copyright
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Copyright sign at the Florida Strawberry Festival

In addition to my developing obsession with finding author voices relating to developments in copyright law, I have been searching every resource I can find to figure out interesting ways of communicating to students and faculty on campus about copyright.  The most hilarious resource might be the most obvious:  the Copyright Office’s FAQ.  My favorite questions:

  1. How do I protect my sighting of Elvis?
  2. Can I get a star named after me and claim copyright to it?

The questions are perfect examples of how the vast reach of copyright is often misinterpreted to be an unlimited reach.

Fan Fail, apologies to Mr. Twain

Fan Fail, apologies to Mr. Twain published on No Comments on Fan Fail, apologies to Mr. Twain

I thought that I was a fan of Mark Twain’s work, though I would usually specify that I enjoyed his essays and sketches more than the novels he is typically known for.  I have to admit, I am not a very good fan, perhaps of anything, because it never occurred to me to find out any more.  I never knew that while working as a typesetting apprentice on his older brother’s newspaper he began penning humorous stories under pseudonyms, or that he would continue this pseudonymous writing on other papers.  I knew that Mark Twain was a pseudonym, but I never knew that it was simply a later and greater pseudonym that followed:  W. Epaminondas Adrastus Perkins, W. Epaminondas Adrastus Blab, Rambler, grumbler, Peter Pencilcase’s Son, John Snooks, and Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, and A Dog-Be-Deviled Citizen…  A curious and, perhaps tenacious, view through Chronicling America can call up some of these early articles (example left from the Hannibal Journal September 16, 1852).

My fandom was renewed recently when reading Kipling’s account of searching out and meeting Mr. Samuel Clemens in his 1890 ‘Letter Twenty:  Rudyard Kipling on Mark Twain’ in Kipling’s America:  Travel Letters, 1889-1895.  Of course their conversation turned to copyright as it was one of Mr. Clemens’ favorite topics of the time.  Of course this is what I was looking for, as it is one of my favorite topics now.

For those of you who, like me, may want to improve their fandom of Mark Twain I highly recommend the PBS Documentary.

Making research

Making research published on No Comments on Making research

I’ve been attempting to organize the information I have gathered during my search for author voices in copyright discussion. I put a bunch of it in a timeline and though it is not done yet, it has helped me see some patterns and questions that I had not seen before.  Take a look around if you are so inclined.

New Video from Copy-Me

New Video from Copy-Me published on No Comments on New Video from Copy-Me

Plagiarize! Tom Lehrer – Lobachevsky

Plagiarize! Tom Lehrer – Lobachevsky published on No Comments on Plagiarize! Tom Lehrer – Lobachevsky

Still slowly and surely working on author voices and found a wonderful gem:

I made a thing (with a little help from my friends)

I made a thing (with a little help from my friends) published on No Comments on I made a thing (with a little help from my friends)

What if copyright did actually balance the needs of the creator and the user?

What if copyright did actually balance the needs of the creator and the user? published on No Comments on What if copyright did actually balance the needs of the creator and the user?

a little obsession with author voices

a little obsession with author voices published on No Comments on a little obsession with author voices

Before copyright law there were poets and playwrights who bemoaned the theft of their work and words by others while at the same time they stole words to build their poems and plays.  Plagiarism was rampant, though, the act of literary theft was only just termed plagiarism, by one poet’s re-purposing of a Latin term for man-stealing or kidnapping.  After copyright law was established, there were authors postulating its merits and its deficiencies, in writing, to the public and their peers.  Authors were thinking about copyright.

When I discovered that one of my favorite authors, Mark Twain, had stood before congress to give his professional opinion on a copyright term extension I was more than excited.  But, I found myself arguing with Twain.  I could see some of his point, but I did not agree with all of it.  I wondered, where were the author voices on copyright today.  I’m still searching, but what I’m finding is that most of the well known, professionally published and successful authors are letting publishers and author’s guilds speak for them.  Do they really agree with everything that’s being said?

Now that copyright is immediate without registration, the world is teaming with authors.  Some write for fun, and to entertain their friends.  Some make a living off of it, or perhaps off of other creative endeavors offered up to the public via the web.  And just like those poet thieves from before copyright law, all authors are users of copyrighted content as well.  With this huge population of authors, there is still little thinking and postulating and writing about copyright.  I’m not saying copyright theory is crazy sexy or anything…well, no, you know what?  It is.  It is obsession worthy.  It is discussion worthy.  I mean, think about it, copyright law is government regulation over what we birth and grow in our minds and give to the world.  If Athena emerged from Zeus’ head today she would be protected by copyright law!  If art is a conversation, copyright law is keeping checks on what we say!

copyrightfistfight CopyrightposterTwain&Tolstoy
Anyway, my obsession with finding author voices has resulted in these things, so far.  Twain and Tolstoy were contemporaries; and if you think all authors would argue for longer and stronger copyright law, Tolstoy would prove you wrong.  He was against copyright.  He looked on his writing as a service to the public that both provided him the experiences he used to write and the living that let him write.  The burden of his education and leisure was to reach out to people, teach them, and attempt to enrich their lives with the fruit of his literary genius.

Copyright: Forever Less One Day – YouTube

Copyright: Forever Less One Day – YouTube published on No Comments on Copyright: Forever Less One Day – YouTube

While I’m not sure I can say that I think copyright should expire before the death of the author, and I adore Mark Twain even if he did declare his belief in perpetual copyright…this video makes some fabulous points.

Copyright – Mucha style

Copyright – Mucha style published on No Comments on Copyright – Mucha style

frames

I recently got an Alphonse Mucha art book and while I was looking through it, in front of some horror movie, with a sketchbook on my lap and a notebook with ideas on visualizing copyright, I got this idea.  Those of you that know Mucha are familiar with his many personifications of the seasons as beautiful women, and then the stars as beautiful women.  Here are copyright concepts as beautiful women….compliments of me.

 

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

LeEtta’s copyright poster! | Iconosquare

LeEtta’s copyright poster! | Iconosquare published on No Comments on LeEtta’s copyright poster! | Iconosquare

Richard is instagramming my office….LeEtta’s copyright poster!

Source: LeEtta’s copyright poster! | Iconosquare

IFLA — Libraries, Copyright and Creativity

IFLA — Libraries, Copyright and Creativity published on No Comments on IFLA — Libraries, Copyright and Creativity

copyright-creativity

Source: IFLA — Libraries, Copyright and Creativity

Fair Use Week 2016

Fair Use Week 2016 published on No Comments on Fair Use Week 2016

As a special close to the week’s activities, Kyle Courtney released “The origin of U.S. fair use,” an artistic rendering of the codification of fair use into the Copyright Act of 1976… , which readers may explore here.

Source: Fair Use Week 2015 | Harvard OSC

Credit Is Due (The Attribution Song) – YouTube

Credit Is Due (The Attribution Song) – YouTube published on No Comments on Credit Is Due (The Attribution Song) – YouTube

Sharing because it’s lovely.  Follow the video for more genius by Question Copyright.

Watch and learn more about the Re:Create Coalition – Re:Create

Watch and learn more about the Re:Create Coalition – Re:Create published on No Comments on Watch and learn more about the Re:Create Coalition – Re:Create

Source: Watch and learn more about the Re:Create Coalition – Re:Create

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