Author Archives: Jason Alley

Zero Draft Portfolio 1

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Just a few things I am thinking about for my first essay.

In our contemporary world and modern day society, copyright functions as a control in different markets.  From music to publishing, copyright acts as a way for artists and creators to decide under what conditions, if any, others may use their work.  If we no longer had the protection of copyright, then we could essentially take control of these different markets, adapting the creations within each to our own personal perceptions.  How could this be beneficial to the public? How would the elimination of copyright impact artists? If printing houses hadn’t differentiated themselves from one another, would copyright exist today?

Zero Draft Thoughts

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Just some questions that have come to mind while thinking about this portfolio. I’m trying to decide which questions I will focus on.

Without copyright would aritists want to to keep producing their particular art form? How would it impact other areas such as theatre and movies that are often based on books?Would a world without copyright lead to more creativity and an increase in unconventional forms of art? Would a world without copyright law lead to artistic chaos?

 

 

Watermarks and Their Impact on Copyright: A Zero Draft Response

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In the early days of book history, many of the books being printed were religious texts such as the Bible or the Mainz Psalter, which have no clear author.  So, rather than distinguish these texts by an author, they were distinguished by their printing house.  Fust and Schoffer, who worked alongside Gutenberg, distinguished the Mainz Psalter, their set of commonly sung church psalms, with a printer’s device, or “a logo representing the book’s house of origin” (Howard 34).  After Fust and Schoffer, Howard notes that many other printing houses followed suit.  This tradition may be traced back to the development of watermarks by printing houses in the earlier days of printing.  Howard notes that, over time, many printing houses developed watermarks to be printed on the paper created in that particular printing house.  This served to distinguish the work of each printing house from one another.  This seems to be, according to Howard, one of the first forms of ownership in book printing.

Had printing houses not felt the need to distinguish their works from one another, would publishing houses today feel the need to do the same?  Would copyright and ownership laws be any different?  These are the questions I aim to answer in my first paper of the portfolio.

Zero Draft Portfolio 1: On Alternative Histories

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The printing of a book required much more people in the first printing houses than today (now replaced by machines). So it was impractical to say any one person was responsible for the end result – we now often give full credit to the author of a  book we read, and substantial praise to the publisher. Of course, the subject of the books played a huge role: they were bibles, histories, and math books. The content of these books were meant for general knowledge; no creative force (author) behind it. In answering the assignment’s question, I would say that if the European’s conception of knowledge was* something to be shared, as a collective, copyright would change dramatically. That is; if Plato’s legacy remained when he said that knowledge exists outside of and before us, and we “recollect” it as we learn;  the idea of creating a text from one’s own labors would become absurd, and no one should have an individual right to such “creation” (Plato).

*Or, better, “had remained.” A similar conception of writing pervaded the medieval period: rarely did anyone write something new or unique. Instead, most authors rewrote legends. Today, someone would accuse Marie de France of plagiarizing Beroul, but then it was merely the way to write.

Who said what?

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Although I agree that knowing the author of a piece of writing is important when attempting to discern the true meaning, I also believe that it can hinder one’s ability to discern a text’s importance. Take for instance this quote from Benjamin Franklin:

“If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

This quote really resonates with you, and coming from one of America’s forefathers it is a great tip indeed. However, that was not Benjamin Franklin. The above is a line from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And although the quote remains an excellent one, it no longer holds the same weight as if it were a direct quote from Benjamin Franklin. Here we can see the problems with believing a text to be from an author. We give words from historic or famous people a certain reverence that we would not otherwise. Who knows how many great works have been attributed, wrongly, to historically significant figures. As the old adage goes “don’t believe everything you read.”

Rare book collection

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As an art history major I was particularly interested in the Nuremberg Chronicle illustrations. I have studied Albrecht Durer, a famous german wood block printer, in the past, and it was great to actually see these works of his predecessors up close. It was interesting to hear that the book contained controversy revolving around the inclusion of Pope Joan. In fact, in the edition we were shown someone went through the trouble of defacing this image and writing in a latin phrase to debunk this version of history. I wonder if there were any written responses to this book. It is also interesting that so much work went into the creation of a book, over 1509 wood carvings, that was not fully approved by the church.

Additionally, I found myself very interested in the books themselves as artifacts. Each book had a story attached. One could learn a lot from learning about previous owners, the materials used in the creation, marks left behind, the publishing house, and even which pages were most read. I loved all of the history associated with the books we looked at. The little quirks such as the Pope Joan story or the inker who stopped halfway through the book really animated the discussion for me.

The Correlation between Handwriting and Intelligence

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Last class we discussed how bad handwriting can make one seem unintelligent.  Aesthetics were essential to the credibility and social status of books and authors hundreds of years ago.  According to Howard, The monks in the fourteenth century as well as the ancient and medieval scribes were required to be flawless without a single defect.   Before the invention of computers and typewriters, I wonder how many gifted and intelligent authors weren’t recognized because of their mediocre handwriting.

To further investigate this possible correlation, I found a study conducted in 1971 on 103 college students to search for a correlation between handwriting, intelligence, and personality.  They studied 47 different types “handwriting variables” and how they could predict behavior and answers to questions based on knowledge.  The study found that “clues about personality could be educed from handwriting.”  Specifically, 6 of 16 handwriting factors could be predicted by 5 of 10 personality and intelligence factors.  I could understand a few personality factors correlating.  For example i find myself to be pretty impatient with a “just go for it” attitude.  I could see this being a result of my bad handwriting because I like to write as fast as possible, getting as many of my thoughts on the paper as I can while i think of them.  I dont believe their found correlation between handwriting and intelligence is strong enough to make an official statement concluding that they are actually correlated.

Sarcasm: Now in punctuation form

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I know we discussed how irony and sarcasm are conveyed through text and how meaning may be missed when the reader is unfamiliar with the author and their prior works and or views. This trend is obvious on Facebook and through email, on which it is difficult to convey sarcasm even to friends. However one software company has patented what they hope will become a punctuation mark to denote sarcasm in emails and other electronic media. The mark itself is called a Sarcmarc and looks like a spiral with a dot in the center of it.

http://02d9656.netsoljsp.com/SarcMark/modules/user/commonfiles/newmarkinfo.jsp

(The link is to the official SarcMark page and includes a download link)

(Their webpage is also a bit sub-par)

The Art of Writing

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As I recall last class we were discussing our fountain pens and the differing forms of writing around the world, such as the brush pen ect. Professor Phillips made a point that we should think about how we form the letters that make up the words we write, they are all made up of simple lines and bars. This then got me to thinking about the art of Graffiti, I have some experience in this field and one of the more challenging aspects is attempting to find a style, the artist has to walk a fine line between legibility and artistic expression though often times artistic expression takes dominance over legibility. Finding ones own letter style is the same process as finding ones own handwriting. It all comes down to lines and bars.

Queries on the Course

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According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, intellectual property consists of two categories: industrial property, such as patents and trademarks, and Copyright, which includes those creations of the mind like literature, films, and music (WIPO). I wonder, when did people conceive of the intellectual property? Who conceived it? And under what circumstances? After all, from reading Howard, it would appear the early books had no need to protect such artistic integrity. Writers of antiquity wrote their names on their own work, of course; and, when printing appeared, it took years before they decided to write the publishing house’s name or the place of publication. I wonder if attitudes toward intellectual property, and publishing in general, have truly changed since then. Did people in Gutenberg’s time believe in the free sharing of ideas? Or was it simply not even thought of; the prospect of a buyer much more important than the identity of the seller? I hope when we get to more modern developments of “books” we will see the contrasts more clearly.

P.S. Does that title count as alliteration?