MAC_Week1_Comment2

Post from Noelia Badillo:
While I was watching the first 2 videos about copyright and listened to the writer “Nathan” I thought he really made copyright like a simple thing to understand and follow, but when I got to the documentary “Good Copy Bad Copy” it goes way further than what people may think. All these terms about copyright and intellectual property can be very confusing because if copyright laws are too limiting then what will happen to all the wonderful creations that musicians or, as we watch in the video, Dj mixers or any other type of creator make? All this issues can limit the distribution of a creation that could be shared for wonderful and even educational purposes. Imagine students in a music class turning a classical piece into another masterpiece by changing it’s rhythm, tempo, etc, and let’s say a famous dancer creates a breathtaking dance routine following that new piece, how could we judge that from being bad or good? With all the technological advances being one of the main responsible reasons for copyright laws to take extreme measure,s we also have to accept that it is also a way of building culture, sharing creativity and collaborate. How can we trace the line between something that it's building new horizons and something that in a negative perspective can affect thousands of industries. It is definitely an extensive subject that has it’s positive and negative perspective and that it would take a long battle.

My response to Noelia:
Noelia, first of all I loved your image for this blog. Did you design that yourself? It’s a perfect visual for this topic as it questions what we see as “good” and “bad”. I feel very similarly to how you do. Though this industry of remixers is technically using the material of other artists, it is creating a new culture and a new art form. I have to say I really enjoyed listening to the new music, especially the when the gnarls barkley music transitioned from it’s original song to the remixer in Brazil and then to the remixer in Pittsburgh. I loved that sequence in the movie. It’s interesting that you pointed out the sequence of the videos we viewed for this assignment and how at first it was simple and straightforward, the creator actually reading from the dictionary, into this idea of how cultures are being created based on piracy. The key question that I keep asking myself is that although I enjoy the creative side of this idea and see the many benefits to its artistic process, is it right? For those that are at least giving credit, there is some grace, however as was mentioned by one of the men in Nigeria, it’s about permission of the use of the material and that’s not happening. It will be an interesting issue to follow, especially with the emergent technologies that are yet to come. I enjoyed reading your post and felt many of the same connections you did.