Week 1 - Blog #4 - Wimba and My AR Project

Week one Wimba's session was full of information on the expectations for the Media Asset Creation, (MAC) class taught by Professor Joe.   I appreciate the up-front and straight forward way in which the information was shared.  I work very well in an atmosphere where I know what is expected of me.  I hate surprises!  Although the session was pretty long, I believe that the time was needed to convey the information to us in the beginning of the class rather than last minute.

There are so many finishing touches to be put on our Action Research website this month.  I appreciate the look at the class as a whole so I know what to expect.  We are so close to being done with our master's.  We can't lose focus now!  Luckily, most of the items that were explained I have done.  Hopefully they are done correctly.   One of the things that concerns me about the data for my AR project is that all of the actual information has to be kept confidential.  So the data that was collected is from surveys that the special education teacher or specialist completed for me.  From the surveys I am able to ascertain that the specialist and/or the student felt that making the social story digital was helpful in learning the skill or behavior.

Week 1 - Blog #3 - Response to Melissa Lodhi

Melissa's post
Reading: Copyright Infringement by Melissa Lodhi

I find the issues surrounding copyright law fascinating.  I am particularly interested because much of my career revolves around

 these laws.  As a professional choreographer, my own intellectual property is protected but I run into massive risks when using music to accompany my work.  Trying to publish or share my work is impossible without original music, which is unaffordable in most cases.  The video “Good Copy, Bad Copy” was eye-opening.  I am extremely baffled by how so many artists are able to produce work that is technically infringing on copyright.  It sounds like all remixes and remakes of songs are stealing intellectual property.  Copyright law is a jumble of pitfalls and loopholes.  In order to pay artists for their work, all 3000 songs on my iPod have been purchased on hardcopy or through iTunes, but I have on many occasions used the work of artists as accompaniment for my work which is technically a no-no.  

Image courtesy of Morguefile 

My Response:

Melissa, I appreciate your candid and personal view on copyright.  There are many people who share your situation.  Where their art is reliant on someone else's creation.  Unless you are a famous choreographer, it is impossible to pay the required fees for original music.  Yet, without your interpretation through dance how many young people wouldn't learn?  I find the copyright laws very perplexing.  I agree artist need and should be protected.  Yet, how could you help not being influenced and inspired by the art to create something else?  Does the new art, even in another medium, then become the property of the first artist?  Perplexing is a great word to describe copyright law!

Week 1 - Blog #2 - Response to Kathy Valunas

Kathy's Blog:

Rules... rules... rules... how to make sure you don't break copyright laws can be very perplexing!  By Kathy Valunas

As I listened to the 10 myths video and the copyright basics that Joe Bustillos provided, the issue about how long a copyright lasts (lifetime+70 years for an author and 100 years for a company) triggered more questions that needed further investigation. I started thinking about all of the various pieces of fine art as well as illuminated manuscripts, and music that might fall outside of this guideline. For example, what about music written before 1900 such as: Bach to Brahms (ca. 1700-1900) or the use of a Requiem or chamber music for background music in a video for education? Or how about the masterpieces created by Donatello (1386-1466), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and da Vinci (1452-1519) all who died before 1900? Then there are the logo designs and the very beginnings of branding from the 1700 and 1800s such as family genealogy coats of arms or the coca-color script used for the logo/branding by John Pemberton in 1886 (Bellis); would these still fall into the category of copyright if one wanted to use those works to create something new for another purpose. Would we still have to gain permission from family members because the original copyright holder was no longer living, to use these items? And what about literature and a variety of authors such as TS Eliot, Virginia Woolf’s essays, or Shakespeare (circa 1558-1939)?

My Reply:

Kathy,
I agree! The more I learn about copyright issues, the more questions I seem to have. You made a great point about the art that was made before copyright law came into existence. Is that protected by copyright law automatically? Does Michelangelo's family receive requests to use his art? Do they receive royalty checks in the mail? 



The question that I want to focus on is how are we to use copyright? Can we use pictures or logos that we see on the web, if it's for educational purposes? I would rather be safe than sorry. There are great websites which offer pictures to use for educational purposes.

Week 1 - Copyright, Copyright, What art thou copyright?

photo by: vichie 81 from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

When I think of copyright issues, I think of the I-tunes vs. Napster issue.  However, it all boils down to whether or not you can completely own intellectual content.  I like the professor who wrote books in the video Good Copy, Bad Copy that stated he knew that students would be processing information  and therefore using some of what his content was.  That copyright was there to protect another author from publishing the same book.  Why then are the other arts so different?

The intention of copyright is to protect the artist from someone stealing their art.  Some would argue that copyright actually inhibits creativity because an artist is not allowed to alter something else he/she sees in their environment and more importantly can not be influenced from a fellow artist to be inspired by it.  This idea is called sampling and a couple of recent genres of music are based on it.  It seems to me that sampling and the concept of fair use are directly opposite from one another.  Fair Use states that you may use a small part or idea from a piece, but not enough to take away from the whole; the article said 5%.  Yet sampling says that you may not take any part or small section from a song, even if it is then distorted, without breaking copyright law.

So why is copyright law different for text compared with video and audio?  Could it be because very few are making money from the information that is synthesized and used from the text book?  Yet, the video and audio that may be altered, slightly used to influence a different piece of audio or video can make a lot of money.  I believe that it all boils down to money.  I believe that there is a need for copyright law.  That artist need to have a way to protect their product from being taken from them.  But isn't there goal of sharing their art to have it influence others?  So again, as in so many issues that polarize our nation, America needs to find a balance between these two extreme camps on copyright.

Welcome!

This is the first of many blogs about my technological journey.  I am now in the eleventh month of a twelve month master's program.  I have already learned more than I could have dreamed.  Yet, I know that there will be a few surprises for me in the weeks to come.  Although I am not teaching this year, I have been busy substitute teaching almost every day.  Most of my fifteen years of teaching experience has been with the little ones' in kindergarten and first grade.  I love teaching the little ones!  However, four years ago my family moved back to the pistachio farm to help my parents who were ill.  At the end of last year, I was laid off after three years in the district.  California is in a big financial mess.  So after fifteen years in the classroom, I have embarked on a year of substitute teaching and pursuing my masters in technology.

In this year, I have discovered many things.  One of the most surprising to me has been that I love teaching high school students.  I have had two long term positions at the high school and in fact am at the high school most of the time.  I have been blessed with being able to spend time with a family that I love dearly.  Almost two months ago, we lost my father to another heart attack.  He went quickly without pain in the pistachio fields that he loved.  Life on the ranch has changed dramatically, but I am blessed to have had the extra time with him.  I know that he is smiling down on me as I finish this program.  He was so proud when I would show him the video's that I worked on for this program.  So it is with a heavy and happy heart that I dedicate this blog to my father, Larry Gage.