When I think of copyright, I’m reminded of the birthday video compilation I posted on Facebook for my best friend, which showed a brief clip of her dancing to Anaconda by Nicki Minaj using a photo booth filter. It was hilarious, but to Facebook’s dismay, it refused to post it, which was much to my frustration as I wasn’t claiming that my best friend was actually Nicki Minaj, neither was I lowering the value of the artist or song (I’d say Ash did a fantastic job of improving the value, to be honest).
The lengths companies go to in order to protect their brand goes even further than this, as an example, Cadbury trademarked the colour purple (Pantone 2685C to be exact) in order to prevent competitor brands from using the famous, identifiable shade.
After learning this, I created a Bad Luck Brian meme to highlight how absurd this sounds.
Because of the participatory and produser culture that the internet has become, these laws are limiting to our creative output. Especially considering that these rules were put in place to prevent ripping off and unfairly claiming of another’s work, which is rarely the motive of creative people online. They instead are only interested in using other people’s works to add another dimension to their work, improving their content and letting this wonderful remix culture to live on.
about emma 
I 100% agree to what your saying here as the internet and Facebook and stuff are trying to protect us from copy right but at the same time I’m like well you can’t really because of how wide the internet is, I feel like they will never be able to stop copyright. I mean they may as well give up now right, because it is not going to get easier to protect copyright its just going to get harder for them. Although also at the same time I’m like copyright is good because people could then like make a copy version of harry potter and call it Larry Potter and no one wants that. So really my point is… ummm idk really just that your video of your friend should be allowed to be uploaded and that we don’t want a crappy version of Harry Potter!
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I really liked your take on copyright. Rather than taking the route that copyright is always a result of ill intent, you explained how it is limiting freedom for many creators who are looking for additional ways to improve their work. Your example of Cadbury copyrighting the shade of purple complimented your view of the issue perfectly. I also like how you used that shade of purple as your text colour. The meme was a nice visual touch, that further emphasised how ridiculous some copyright claims are. This post overall is very interesting as it opens up a side of copyright many don’t see, excellent job.
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Fascinating points Emma! I do wonder though, while I’d have to agree with you that these media corporations often take their copyrights a little too far, I do believe that if I had spent thousands of dollars making a music video, or hours of my life writing a dissertation I would probably be pissed if people used my work as a comical remediation. That said, I think these corporations need to recognise the changing nature and expectation of the public in regards to copyrights and learn to adapt to this generations technological capacities. This may involve some sacrifice but I think overall, it is relatively unavoidable. Overall great read, loveeeee the meme, so accurate! Would definitely suggest checking out mcir.digital/en/events/impact-of-the-internet-on-copyright/- great read!
-Mia
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Although I am inclined to agree that some copyright laws are done in excess of what may appear necessary, I do think it is somewhat naïve to assume that all creative people have good intentions, completely free from the pursuit of wealth- everyone has to eat right? The Cadbury example is the fullest extreme of copyright protectionist policies and a great example of your point. I love the meme and the extra touch of using the ‘forbidden’ colour for your text as it added a whimsical feel to the serious and technical topic. Maybe a balancing act needs to be undertaken between the remix culture of the internet and rewarding original content- I’m interested in hearing your thoughts? In the meantime, this article touches on some similar topics if you’re interested https://theconversation.com/why-cash-and-copyright-are-bad-news-for-creativity-34696
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