Many organizations encounter, on some level, materials protected by copyright. Copyright laws were created long before the Digital Age and could never anticipate online platforms and the connectivity of the current landscape. How can we ensure that creative industries stay lucrative while not stifling the sharing and flow of information and material? What are the ethical and legal implications?
We’ve learned a bit about copyright laws and what they protect – and we’ve learned that they perform an important function. But we also know that this is the Information Age and that one of the wonderful aspects of digital connectivity is the capacity to share knowledge and creativity. Therefore, copyright laws must protect the rights of creators while not stifling knowledge or expression.
Consider the legal scenarios from your reading:
The Beastie Boys v. GoldieBlox
The Authors Guild v. Google
Shepard Fairey v. The Associated Press
Based on your knowledge of copyright and your understanding of the surrounding implications that articulate above, Discuss for each case whether you think the outcome was favorable and explain your reasoning for your position. You don’t necessarily have to agree with the legal outcome.
For example, Would tend to disagree with the legal outcome surrounding Google and the Author’s Guild. To support your discussion, please explore books.google.com,Locate images of Shepard Fairey’s artwork, and please listen to/watch the Beastie Boys’ “Girls” and the GoldieBlox spot (on Youtube).
The article “What’s a Fair Share in the Age of Google” articulates another problem entirely, involving news organizations and how they fail to get compensated in an age of aggregation and search engines. What do you think is a fair solution here? Explain and support your answer based on your knowledge of copyright and your close reading of this article.
Module Notes: The Copyright Conundrum in an Age of Innovation
United States Copyright Office, “Copyright Basics (Links to an external site.).” [PDF, File Size 670 KB] Open access at: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf