Digital media is everywhere. It is an integrated part of our lives at this point. How many of us would feel like we lost an arm if our internet connection was down? Many of us would not be able to do our jobs properly, or be able to do our school work without the internet. And with the internet comes the constant bombardment of social media. And there is a lot of controversy at the moment involving the rights to digital media and how to go about using it ethically.
I think that if you are able to link/reference/credit to the original source of the photo/video/movieclip/soundbite, then it is your responsibility to do so. Even if you alter it and make it your own, you need to give credit where credit is due. You'll see this in the digital art community a lot; people making photo manipulations from a handful of sources and fairly crediting each and every one. it's considered very rude and poor etiquette to not cite your sources or references properly.
However, I do not in anyway agree with legislation like SOPA or PIPA. If you put anything on to the internet you are pretty much going to have to assume that people are going to download it and have their way with it. One of my favorite graffiti artists, Banksy, said it best:
"People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you, and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from the bus that imply that you are not sexy enough and that all of the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology that the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. they are "The Advertisers," and they are laughing at you.
You, however,are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights, and copyright law mean advertisers can say whatever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert that is in a public space that doesn't give you a choice whether you see it or not is yours. It's yours to take, re-arrange, and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock that someone just threw at your head.
You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don't owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs."
Yeah, that sums it up real good for me. Give credit where credit is due, but don't let anything stop your creativity.
I was curious because you responded to my post for this question and said that you interpreted the question much differently than I did. Now I see that! I could not find anything in the book directly related to this topic either, so I guess we both winged it. When I read the question I took it to refer to people who will take a picture, video or audio clip, manipulate it so that it fits what they want to say, sometimes change the whole meaning of what the original clip was, and use it falsely. But your point of view was something entirely different that I had not thought of. I think it is perfectly ethical to take things from the internet and use them as a base for creating new ideas. I also view the internet as a free for all, and am very thankful that there is a place we can use our freedom, voice our opinions, and build on what we see and want to portray. As long as you credit original sources, and make it clear that you have modified the original source, I think it is perfectly fine to alter things for that purpose. I have seen a lot of amazing things people have done with music especially online- taking parts of songs and videos and making a collage of something even better than the originals. So I guess my view on this subject depends on how the question is worded...I haven't read other peoples posts but now I want to know how the rest of the class responded. Thanks for broadening my interpretation!
ReplyDeleteCheers to your honesty and in depth response. You are very accurate in your depiction of these issues! All the big wigs want to have their cake and to eat it to yet when someone dishes it right back, all of a sudden there is a problem. lol. I agree completely with your conclusion of giving credit where credit is deserved. As you briefly mentioned, sometimes, especially on the internet, the original sources are very hard to track down, therefore making it impossible to cite. I believe as long as whoever is reusing and or remaking the material is honest and not trying to play it off like it is solely their creation, everyone should be happy. But if someone is knowingly being shady or untruthful, that is where some type of regulation needs to be in place.
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