Here is a video I thought could start a lively discussion about copyright law. Please give me your thoughts. This can be stopped after each question or played in its entirety and used as a pre or post class discussion.
Enjoy
The video itself is a question? Is music the US band plays public domain?
Uh oh, made you think?
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Copyright “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”
Copyright “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”
Copyright has always been a great discussion in my music classes. All my middle school students to high school students have heard me talk about copyright laws and issues. I always found this especially interesting when I was teaching in a Catholic school were stealing is a sin. Well according to some of my students stealing copyrighted music from the Internet was only a small sin. I always enjoyed talking about copyright with middle school students end up because at this point they have all composed their own music or have written their own stories. Student students seem to have a problem in using copyrighted material from people that they don't know or from people they thought already had a ton of money so would matter if they obtain the song illegally. However they were very protective of their own music. Students were always divided that artist should always get compensation for their work while others said it's free advertising and they'll make their money in other ways. Some students felt differently when it came to their work, however some still felt it was okay to get music for free off the Internet.
Professor Joe Bustillos explained some great points in his presentation. I love the explanation of the 10 myths about copyright. I also enjoyed listening to Nathan from the expert Village, I was not aware that improvisation is not copyrighted unless it is recorded. That will be an interesting twist for my students in the future. It was interesting to also find out about Bridgeport vs Dimension films. I think the film answered many questions but also left some unanswered questions for the music educator. One example is copyright for the composer is for the lifetime +70 years but for Corporation is 100 years. This law becomes fuzzy when the composer has been dead for over 100 years yet the performance and recording are 71 years old. There are no living relatives and the corporation is claiming ownership. I believe this may still be up for debate, however I do believe I read somewhere if it is a recent recording then that Corporation owns the copyright. Here are some examples of music that I believe would qualify as public domain Robert Johnson performing Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson has been dead for over 80 years and had no relatives so his original recordings should be public domain. Another example would be Pablo Casals recordings of the Bach cello suites. Bach has been dead well over 100 years and Pablo has been dead over 80 years. I recommend everyone to listen to them if they get a chance Robert Johnson is one of the early creators of the Blues guitar genre and Pablo Casals played the best interpretations of the Bach cello suite ever. Here is a recording of Robert Johnson performing one of his most famous and memorable songs Sweet Home Chicago, enjoy.
Fair use is very interesting, and could open the door to many different types of recording. I understand you can use recordings for teaching, the news, parity, or critical commentary. I also understand that there are certain conditions, the nature, the amount of the recording used, and its commercial effect however, those are all very ambiguous and can be interpreted in many different ways. My recommendations to everyone is use public domain music or video, or just create your own original work.
Youtube video: What is a Copyright? by Nathan Boehme/Expert Village, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es848GfNY retrieved on 6/8/2009
References
Viddler video: Blues. By Richard Stemple. http://www.viddler.com/explore/rstemple/videos/41/ retrieved and created on 8/4/2011
All images are by Richard Stemple and are copyright protected.
Youtube video: How to Copyright : Learn What Cannot Be Protected Under Copyright Law by Nathan Boehme/Expert Village, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAfKVg4SACY retrieved on 6/8/2009
10 Myths About Copyright Explained by Brad Templeton, http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html retrieved on 6/8/2009
Blip.tv video: Good Copy, Bad Copy Directed by ANDREAS JOHNSEN, RALF CHRISTENSEN, HENRIK MOLTKE (http://www.goodcopybadcopy.net/),
Saturday, July 30, 2011
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