Entry 3 - Wk1 Comments to Bryan Antos - Copyright

wk1 reading: copyright issues

Bryan Antos’ Post:
Every day I work, I create video for my company that is seen by millions of people. But that video is protected by copyright that my company owns. I cannot post my work on youtube or anywhere. And that's a personal problem as I want as many people as possible to see my work. At the very least, I want my friends to be able to see it.

Additionally, not every piece is saved by my company. The best thing I ever produced (and was copied by Nike and NBA Productions, poorly, except for getting Marvin Gaye's version of the National Anthem, which is awesome) is gone forever. That is sort of devastating to me.

I understand the point of copyright but there will always be pirating. The trick is to embrace the new techniques and create a legal version of that. 5 years ago I suggested making shows available for download and I got laughed at. Every single person laughed at the idea. And now it's one of the biggest priorities of the company.

You just have to wait for the younger generation to get in there and try and change these laws. Like I said in a comment, the musical genius of an album like Paul's Boutique cannot really happen nowadays. That needs to change.

But you really have to give the law some credit. Being able to use any copyrighted work for parody or education is great.

My Comments:
Bryan. Great post. I was feeling your frustrations as I read your blog post about the art that you create for your company, and yet, you don't have the freedom to share what you have actually created because of copyright. I also think it is funny that your thoughts on making programs available for download were basically rolled over and pushed under the proverbial rug. Why does it always seem to be that when a great idea is produced, there is always the majority of the "big wigs" that think a radical way of thought is out of the realm of possibility?

I am curious though. Have you ever asked any of the ones that laughed at your idea five years ago about how they feel now? I hope that you have more opportunity to create change within your workplace and have the freedom to remix the culture that we live in! Good luck Bryan.

p.s. I wouldn't have laughed.