Copyright: Who's being protected?

The question of copyright is a tricky one for me. Before entering teaching I was a professional photographer who relied upon the law to protect my images from being “stolen” and used by others. At times in my previous life I had to resort to a lawyer to protect my property. Even then I found copyright to be a slippery slope. Ultimately my feelings about copyright have not change even though I have changed careers.

I have always felt and still feel that copyright law is intended to make sure that ownership and financial gain go to the person who created the work. That said, the times that I had to invoke the law was to stop someone else from profiting from my work without compensating me. I have never felt that if my images were being used in a student’s project that any harm was being done and I would never have taken any action to stop that kind of use.

As a teacher I am very aware of when students “borrow” images for their reports or projects and have discussed that they are in violation of the owners copyright. I also tell the students that if they are going to use someone else’s images that they should give credit just as they would footnote a passage or information that is not theirs.

I believe that intent is the major concept that needs to be addressed when looking at copyright infringement. If the intent is to profit or destroy from another’s work then copyright has been violated and needs to be dealt with. If the intent is to use for an educational purpose, even if the original is changed, then I do not think that the owner is losing out on any profit that may be earned. That said, this “new” creation should not be displayed and passed off without permission from the original copyright holder.

That takes us to the new form of mashups. The Internet and technology has made it very easy to take many sources and create something new. I believe that these new creations are a violation of the original copyright because they are being displayed and social networking sites for the sole intention to re-purpose them for the new creators profit. This profit may not be financial but does harm the original creator because they are not given credit and their original work has been “borrowed” and changed without their permission.

Copyright protection for these new mashups should not be allowed. The work is not from an original source and was created without permission. You have to start with ownership, or at least permission, to claim that it is your original work. This new creation still belongs to the original creators, no matter how many there are. The new creator can enjoy their creation but should not be allowed to post or claim any ownership over this new creation.

If you steal a bunch of car parts and build your own car it is still stolen!