Reflective Journal Entry 3 - Copycats

nate6270
Jun 19, 2016
2 min read

This weeks lecture is titled copyright and contracts, it begins by defining what copyright really means and through this the history and origin of the concept of copyright are explained. It details the relation between physical property and intangible property, explaining that in the way a physical item is classed as private property, so too can intangible intellectual property.

The defining means to the ownership of the property being the exertion of skill and labour, whether it be physical skill labour or creative and intellectual skill labour. Copyright has never been an issue that I have given much consideration. I have always thought that to have something copyright protected you had to apply for some sort of licensing, so its actually quite relieving to be told the contrary.

I really enjoyed the "Walking on egg shells" video embedded in the lecture. The video expands on the ideas of creative freedom and copyright censorship and exposes the mechanics of our cultures evolution through reference and response.

"All original work is part of an ongoing collective experiment to produce something new and beautiful and true" - Micheal Cunningham

Included in the video is the notion that our culture is a cannibalistic cycle of reference and response, with references being devoured by every possible perspective and transformed into more references. I think this is extremely noticeable within the online creative community. The internet has supercharged this cycle and it now seems as soon as any popular piece of media is released there is instantaneously a huge surge of referenced art works, videos or songs all in relation to the subject.

What I take from this lecture is the encouragement to be free with your ideas, to not allow copyright and legal guidelines dictate what you do and stifle your creative expression. It shows how art can come from many places and still be original and unique, and overall it emphasises the importance of expressing yourself freely.