Monthly Archives: March 2013

Music Licensing Issue – Skins

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When my group for Portfolio 2 was talking about what to write about, copyright relating to music was brought up about one of the topics. This got me thinking about an issue that arose several years back with one of my favorite tv shows of all time, the award-winning English drama Skins. Among the many great things about this show, one of them was the use of great music. However, an issue arose when releasing the DVD for the show. There was an issue because licensing the music for the DVDs would come with a high cost. So, completely different music was chosen to be put in the episodes released to the DVDs. The only way to buy the episodes with the original scores is to purchase them on Itunes. This is a real shame, because the music was one of the things that contributed to this show’s greatness. It almost feels as if something is lost with the original songs taken out.

Compagnie Marie Chouinard

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The performance of Compagnie Marie Chouinard in the Williams Art Center this past Wednesday was interesting to say the least. The performance itself was a very intricate one, involving much difficult choreography and movement. Personally however, I found it a bit difficult to relate to. I could tell that the intent was to add some symbolism, but I had a hard time trying to understand what that symbolism was. The production itself was a bit too conceptual than what I am used to. This is most likely attributed to the fact that I do not have a very strong background in studying the arts. It was clear that the performers were not only great athletes, but had put much time into preparing for this show. It’s just that I did not take as much out of this event as I had from other performances, such as The Arabian Nights

Brownbag – Mary Jo Lodge

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The talk with Professor Lodge provided much insight into the intricacies involved with copyright and the world of theater. I was not previously aware of how much had to be done to get clearance to perform a play. It truly can be a very nerve-wracking process. Also, I did not realize how much of a problem it could be to edit an already-existing work, and that permission would be needed to take out certain parts. The most extreme case of this was seen when Professor Lodge talked about Rent, and stated that nobody is allowed to edit any portions of it at all. This however does make sense to an extent, as some scenes do have major importance to the central meaning as a whole, and losing them would end up majorly changing the entire production. The discussion as a whole was both interesting and insightful, and taught me much about the world of theater.

Copyright of Choreography

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I decided to read up on the laws for choreography and like the rest of copyright law it seems to be confusing at times. There is a big question of originality and expression. Originality seems to come down to the age old question of how much can you take and it still be allowed? There have been few cases that have made it to the Federal courts. It is also interesting to note the process of registering a work with the Copyright Office. The number of aspects that are excluded from protection are quite extensive. I find it noteworthy that the concept is not protected under the law.

People of the Book

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I went to the writer talk today with no prior knowledge on Geraldine Brooks. Her talk was both witty and insightful. I was actually reminded of our class when she started to describe how she was inspired to write the book “People of the Book”. She was sparked by the mystery behind a Hebrew codex known as Sarajevo Haggadah. Little is known about the owners of the book other than it was saved from destruction twice by Muslims and once by a catholic priest.

Once Brook had her topic, she went to see the actual text itself as it was in a state of preservation. She described getting an epiphany as the preserver removed little fragments from the pages such as a hair or an insect’s wing and saving them. Each of these small tidbits were clues to the history of this book. Brooke decided that while we may never know the true path of the Sarajevo Haggadah, she could create a story and allow these clues to lead into her story. This really made me think of all the time our class spent looking at books and important documents, such as the slave emancipation documents. Each of these documents has a history and clues much like the ones Brook keys into to.

School Plays

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I participated in a couple of plays in middle school, but never really stopped to think about where the rights of the original author and the creative license given to the director lay. In fifth grade I was a part of the play Oliver. In fact, I was Oliver- well the first of 5 Olivers. I wonder if our school had to seek permission to allow for multiple people to play the same person in a role. All of the dialogue and content was maintained from the original. I wonder if there were ever any specifications that my school failed to meet to put on a play, such as proximity to broadway or availability of talent.

 

Basketball Game

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While at the game last night I noticed that my friends back at school were not entirely happy about not being able to watch the game. The Lafayette Sports Network was not broadcasting the game and not everyone gets CBS sports. So I decided to look into why LSN didn’t show the game. Apparently the rights vary on the type of event. During the regular season the respective institutions have the rights but then rights go to networks once tournaments and championships occur.

Copyright on the Court

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As I was attending the Bucknell Lafayette basketball game, I attempted to observe how copy right is used in basketball. What i found curious was how many of the players, on both teams, had huge pictures of their heads being waved around by those in the crowd. If you have ever watched a basketball game on tv, you’ll know what I am talking about. I found it incredibly weird that it was the schools who were behind the creation of these. And although I believe it is within their rights to produce the likenesses of its student athletes, I would find it rather unsettling if someone had huge picture of my head in the stands. Its not something you think about as an athlete at this school, but just like everywhere else, the school more or less owns your likeness and can profit off it.

Back to what is a Book?

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I was recently reading in my educational psychology book for class when i came across this quote: “In early research, psychologists assumed that people create concepts based on rules about defining attributes, or distinctive features. For example, books all contain pages that are bound together in some way” (Woolfolk 299). This got me thinking about eBooks; surely there is no binding of those. However, going back to our last book viewing, not all of those works we saw were bound either. Perhaps in this case, binding is meant in a less literal sense. As books can be bound by story line, content, characters, and or style, as opposed to only being bound physically. But again it is still up for interpretation.

Oz

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I’m not sure if anyone has seen Oz or was planning on it but there is an interesting copyright issue. The book is in public domain but the 1939 film adaptation is not. So elements of the  original film should not have been used in the new movie. It will be interesting to see where this leads.