Copyright

I'm back, and I'm fresh full of new information. When Jason Hardin came to talk to our class about the rules and regulations regarding copyrighting, I learned a lot. One thing he brought up that I find particularly interesting is the handling of "Orphan Works." These publications have no author, publisher, or copyright holder that can be located. Issues that arise include "Is it in Public Domain?" and "Who do I pay royalties to?" along with "What can I do about it?" Well, the publication in question may not be in Public Domain, but you do not have information supporting either side of the argument so one must assume that it is NOT a part of Public Domain. Furthermore, there really isn't anyone to pay royalties to since a copyright holder cannot be located. Therefore, the best way to handle the situation is to document your attempts at finding the copyright holder so that if there's a conflict, you can simply prove your steps through the process and would have contacted to correct copyright holder had the information been available.

One issue regarding copyrighting that is in serious debate is in movie clips and film pirating. Recently, the balance between a clip from a movie for a presentation versus mainstreaming a pirated form of a film has been changing. Friends send clips out via email and things constantly and no less use them in school presentations. But how often do they cite them? Is this lapse in proper citation and violation of copyright law as bad as pirating an entire movie? Well, no. And yes. No because the clip does not make money nore is it substantial (and also it might actually advertise the entire film). Yes, though, because the bigger issue is that any type of fraud is illegal and should be frowned upon. But where do you draw the line? When does a clip become too long to be considered dangerous? I think that regardless of length of clip, both forms of video use is a form of pirating. I do not support the abuse of bootlegging movies or collecting clips. Clips can turn into substantial parts of movies. To me, the line seems unclear, so don't go near it. Everyone has a different opinion, but I'll stick to mine.

Thanks again, keep in touch,

John Runge
jrunge@trinity.edu