Copyright?

 The virtual worlds pose a new problem with the way we think about copyright and intellectual rights.  “As new technologies have shifted the ability to make potentially infringing copies from the exclusive domain of expert technicians into the hands of the unskilled individual, copyright owners have repeatedly been confronted with the social fact that most individuals simply ignore copyright laws” (Jenson, 533).  It has been estimated that in ten years the Internet will come to look like a videogame with no text.  With this movement into virtual worlds, will copyright create a new digital form within cyberspace or will it be tear down the online playground of lawless citizens (Noveck)?

We simply ignore the law?   In 1813, Thomas Jefferson had written, “That ideas should freely spread from one to another over the globe, for the moral and mutual instruction of man, and improvement of his condition.”  As I quote someone in my own writing, I must question the difference between what I am doing now versus using copyrighted video or music in a creative project.  As long as the creation of works from “already-made” material retains the essence and mark of its origin, I believe the work should not fall within copyright infringement. 

A good example of this would be amateur manga  (Japanese comics) culture in Japan also known as dōjinshi (roughly translated as “fan fiction”).  Many amateur artists in Japan form circles or collectives to create their own versions of commercialized manga.  “[This dōjinshi] is in a continual state of deletion and supplementation… the disappearance of one part is of no particular consequences… [as] it will be replaced… by other parts—other characters, other functions, other plots, and their extensions.  [These] supplementations are all quotations from other [dōjinshi] elements which are, in turn, quotations from manga” (Wilson, 222).  Although Japan is more culturally accepting of such activity of filtering and remixing materials within and outside of their culture, these individuals are still ignoring copyright in order to creatively build from original materials.  The freedom of these individuals to do so enables these amateurs to create a legitimate art form that in turn can be bought and sold in America legally.

Lawrence Lessig creates a major point with his article, “In Defense of Piracy” about the attitude of copyright laws and regulation in America.  Youtube, being his main example, of amateur activity in regards to copyright infringement shows the American viewpoint and societal control of “open source” and free culture—a system that supports and protectors creators by granting intellectual rights but allows the freedom of use to “follow-on creators” (Lessig, 2).  Anytime copyrighted material is uploaded onto Youtube that individual is influencing others that there is nothing wrong with disobeying law.   Eventually, Youtube will remove the materials and even discontinue the account of the individual with continuous disobedience, but cyberspace doesn’t limit the individual from creating another account and continuing to upload materials.  Additionally, there is nothing to stop other individuals from downloading the same infringing material to later upload them again through their accounts.  In the end, the current condition of copyright law proves to be futile in cyberspace.

To give an example of using copyrighted materials outside of the digital realm, Arturo Herrera, a Venezuelan artist, uses images from Disney coloring books to create collages that express the unconscious.  Regarding the topic of copyright and Disney, I was interested to find that using black and white images instead of colored images of Disney characters is allowed, but copyright infringement would occur with the use of Disney images in color.  This could be an explanation to why Herrera was allowed to use these images within his work. 

Arturo Herrera
"Untitled"
1997-1998
Mixed media collage on paper, 12 x 9 inches

As Lessig stated, the world we live in is essentially build upon free culture.  To restrict the rights of individuals to freely analyze and interrupt materials, we are not only limiting our expression, but are also stifling our ability to be creative.  The creative works of amateurs are just as important for creativity to flourish in society as it is for professionals.  Dōjinshi serves as an example of the building of creativity and professionals through amateur works and expression.  Herrera’s work exhibits how using “ready-made” materials are powerful tools for creating new work and analyzing culture.  Reform of copyright needs to allow the freedom of the free culture we live in; otherwise the lawless attitude of citizens will continue to grow and influence society. 

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"Books: Lessig: Free Culture". 2004. Business Week. 16.

Jensen, Christopher. 2003. "NOTE - THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME: COPYRIGHT, DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIAL NORMS". Stanford Law Review. 56 (2): 531.

Litman, Jessica. 2001. Digital copyright: protecting intellectual property on the Internet.

Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

Noveck, B. S. (January 01, 2005). INTRODUCTION: THE STATE OF PLAY. New York Law School Law Review, 49, 1, 1.

Wilson, Brent. 2003. "Of Diagrams and Rhizomes: Visual Culture, Contemporary Art, and the Impossibility of Mapping the Content of Art Education". Studies in Art Education. 44 (3): 214-229.