Thing #15 (Week 6)

The Fair(y) Use video was absolutely brilliant! I've grown to appreciate and take more interest in the complicated world of copyright since our course in it last year. My interest in freedom of information is growing exponentially, and this video appealed to me for numerous reasons (I could go on, but will spare you all since that is not the actual point of Thing 15).

I checked out the Creative Commons website, along with the copyright comic book, both of which I wish I had known about during my copyright class. The more I learn about copyright, the more it fascinates me. It both protects and prevents the work of artists, as depicted in the comic. It is complicated, costly, and frustrating. Some of the cases described in the comic seemed so ridiculous (charging $10,000 for a ringing cell phone that played the theme from Rocky in a documentary!!). Costly licenses often result in the disappearance of influential and instrumental works.

Through the course of our discovery exercises, I have come across Classroom 2.0 titled or related blogs and websites that are not Classroom 2.0. They have all appeared to be educational in purpose, but I don't remember seeing any kind of credits or acknowledgments to the original.

Freedom of information and copyright are topics I could see myself studying more in the future. Maybe someday I'll make my way out of the elementary school and into this world.