At the end of this post I have the link to the digital collection of portraits of the Marquis de Lafayette. We have discussed the importance of being able to hold and examine old books and text in person but do you think it is just as important with pictures? You can look up the pictures online and see the colors and detail but do you feel that having the work in person allows you to appreciate it more? http://digital.lafayette.edu/collections/lafayetteprints
The term hands on can be taken quite literally, a tangible object that can be held and manipulated in some form. A book or newspaper could be seen as hands-on, but with electronics I feel like this term has changed. Interactive websites and even apps on our phone allow us to be hands-on in a new way. We are capable of learning in a way that allows us to do so from the comfort of our own home and on our home time. However, is the use of technology to be hands-on on our own time and in the comfort of our own home really conducive to our learning and understanding of material?
I went onto Youtube to see if it included any videos that referenced the Copyright Act of 1710. What popped up in the search results, however, were videos with a disclaimer about the Copyright Act of 1976. I clicked on a random video to read the entire description: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE1inwUqedI
ALL RIGHTS GO TO PINK FOR HER SONG RAISE YOUR GLASS.
“Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.”
The law itself reads, “…[T]he fair use of a copyrighted work…for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (Copyright Law of the United States of America).
Although we have begun to discuss copyright in depth, I have never actually read the current copyright law in this country. After having read it, however, I better appreciate how it maintains everyone’s First Amendment Rights while protecting citizens’ intellectual property.
I stumbled across an article the other day that discussed William Faulkner’s famous quote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past” and the fact that this line was said in the movie “Midnight in Paris”. Apparently, this is a huge deal, as the company that owns the right to many of Faulkner’s works is suing because of this statement. Now, we all know that the main purpose of copyright it to protect the work and rights of the author. However, I think it is safe to say that the reason the company is suing in this case is for personal gain, not to protect the rights of the author (as not only is the author dead, but character in the movie who states this line mentions right after that it was Faulkner who stated it). I think that this is a prime example of how many companies who own the rights of a deceased author’s work may abuse this power and copyright as a whole, using it mainly to make money. I really don’t think that the company suing in this case is worried that Faulkner’s work is being stolen.
Here is the article:faulkner-estate-sues-over-midnight-in-paris-quote.html
The question that stuck out to me from this week’s blog prompt was, “In an age when we manipulate devices with our hands all day long to do our work, what counts as ‘hands-on’?” First, reflecting on the visit to the library and EPI, hands-on used to mean the work required to actually make a book: setting the letters, inking the machine, pulling the press, etc. Hands-on in the most literal sense. Today, we consider that type of “hands-on” work to be craftsmanship. Hundreds of years ago, however, that was just considered typical work. Secondly, last semester I was involved in the 50 States of Grey Election Night broadcast. When people ask me to describe the class, I always say that it was a wonderful experience because it was hands-on learning. It was not hands-on like making a book on the printing press, however. To me, hands-on has become a figure of speech, not a physical description of the work. Rather than sitting in class taking notes, we went out into the field and filmed the stories that we pitched, worked with classmates, designed sets, and studied topical issues and races in preparation for the live broadcast. We solved problems and made decisions. We were involved in every step of the production, and for that reason, it was a hands-on learning experience.
Howard describes a day in the life of a printer in the mid 1600s in Chapter 4, describing how early the print master wakes up in order to prepare the shop for the coming day, and how late the print master stays after the workers leave in order to tidy up the shop at night. In the book, she also describes a print-layer’s strike, where they refused to come to work because of lower wages. The print master is forced to use new hires to lay the print. When I first read this, I didn’t think it was a big deal because the laying of the print seemed to be a fun, easy job. However, after our visit to the EPI yesterday, I realized just how difficult it must have been for the print master to teach the new hires how to lay the print, and how much less efficient their inexperienced hands must have been in comparison to the veteran print-layers who were on strike. It is remarkable to think that things to which we pay no attention to today – the layout and format of our books, for example – were the esteemed work of meticulous hands. The visit to the EPI really opened my eyes into how difficult it must be to truly run a successful publication company.
At EPI the professor explained to us how easy it is to register a work on the US Copyright Office website so after hearing this, I decided to explore the website myself. I was surprised to learn that for only $35 someone could file a basic claim online and it only takes about 2.5 months to process online. In my mind, I always expected copyrighting to not only be a long process, but also an expensive one. Before visiting the website, it also never crossed my mind that copyrights in the US are recognized in many other countries and vice versa. After looking at this website, I also got to thinking about patents. Unlike copyrights, patents require lawyers. Having to hire a lawyer not only makes a patent more expensive than a copyright, but I would think it would also increase the length of time it takes to acquire one. We put a great deal of value on our belongings and property, so I would think that if more people were to recognize how easy and cheap it is to file a claim for a copyright, more would do so.
The difference between a copy of an item and the item itself is huge. For example, I have a copy of the Constitution that supposedly was printed on the same press that the Constitution was printed on. However, my copy of the Constitution clearly has no more significance to the public than my copies of the textbooks I own. It is the original that has staying power, and it is the original that makes people want copies of it. The same goes for books; the original book is much, much more intriguing than the less-than-perfect copies. With old manuscripts, the original is still even more valuable, but the copies are extremely valuable as well. In seeing hand-done work, you are able to tell so much about the author or penman, and how each individual book has its own flavor to it. Even though we looked at the Nuremberg Chronicle last week, I couldn’t help but think that to see that book in person, and see all of the woodcut pictures and maps, was truly amazing. No current-day printed copy could have captured the magnificence of that book.
http://www.beloit.edu/nuremberg/inside/about/editions.htm
The trip to the EPI was a great learning experience for me; I had seen very old printing presses before in Philadelphia, while we were looking at what the Declaration of Independence was printed on, but I have never seen a rolling press, and certainly didn’t realize the amount of work that went into assembling a single paragraph, let alone page. The fact that the arranging of a simple paragraph took hours to complete is mind-boggling – how could people have printed entire newspapers daily? The labor going into such a task must have been extensive. It is also easy to understand why many newspapers folded after about a year – if a company didn’t have the capital to invest in many printing machines and workers, it would be difficult to keep up with public demand at a reasonable price.
Today while watchingg one of my favorite television shows, the British comedy “Peep Show”, I came across a scene which relates excellently with the main themes of the class. In this episode, one of the main characters, Mark, is offered the chance to have his book published by a shady publishing company. In the offer, the company wants Mark to give them a payment of 2000 pounds, promising him that they will sell many copies of the book and make him rich. Against the advice of his friend Jeremy, Mark takes the offer and makes the down payment. Unfortunately for Mark, he soon finds out he has been scammed. The copies of the book end up not being legitimate. Rather, they are produced cheaply through photocopying, with no effort done to make them look presentable. As a result, nobody buys the book. This scam illustrates the importance of copyright laws. The fake publishing company knew that Mark not only didn’t have a copyright on his work, but wasn’t very concerned with this aspect of the book selling industry. As a result, the people running the scam knew that they would be able to get away with their devious plot fairly easily.