I have always found the idea and concept of copyright to be quite complex and rather scary. Having the opportunity to listen to Melanie Wrobel’s presentation was a great privilege. I would recommend this podcast to others who also struggle with this VERY important concept. I feel as though copyright is such an important concept because of the way and methods that information can now be distributed. Everyday there is copyright infringement. People are constantly using others’ pictures, words, or “unique expressions” (personal communication, June 13, 2016).
Melanie Wrobel provided a very informative and straightforward copyright podcast. The information was clear and easy to understand. I learnt so much from this podcast that I think this blog post would be pages and pages long if I were to put it all down to paper! There were several perceptions that Melanie was able to dispel during the podcast that I found particularly interesting. I will sum up a few of, what I feel like, are the major items or takeaways from the podcast.
With the advancements and instant ability to share or post information with the use of technology, I feel as though copyright is getting harder and harder to track. Melanie mentions that this is an ongoing issue (personal communication, June 13, 2016). Authors or creators, wouldn’t even know that there has been an issue of copyright unless they search and find it, someone finds it and brings it to their attention, or they use a copyright detection software (personal communication, June 13, 2016). I’m very eager to see what the future brings in order to get a handle on copyright infringement or whether further rule development will take place making more content fall under the Public Domain.
I didn’t realize the specific definition of Public Domain and how information is considered to be on Public Domain. Melanie mentions how most members of the public assume that works on the internet or anything without a copyright sign, are of Public Domain (personal communication, June 13, 2016). I was surprised to learn that this isn’t accurate. Public Domain or an expired term of copyright is when an author dies PLUS 50 years (personal communication, June 13, 2016). This makes me look at things very differently. The articles that we share on social media, the memes that we share, the posting content; copyright needs to be considered with them all. I think there could be drastic impact to social media if people really enforced their copyright to content and images.
Copyright in terms of research study participants was also very interesting! It’s not so much of a surprise that there should be copyright protection, but I think it is something that is being overlooked. Stories and ideas from research studies are often overlooked because of anonymity for participants. This is so important for researchers to consider before starting the study and to outline rules so that everyone is comfortable with how information that is provided will be used (personal communication, June 13, 2016).
The last point I want to reference was the information that was provided on the different types of licenses for Creative Commons. I had no idea that there were differences in the copyright of information and how that information can be used. It was absolutely eye-opening! I appreciated how Melanie provided the information on which licenses were most free and least free, but also how to make sure we were using the information properly or what type of license we should use and how we can get that information (personal communication, June 13, 2016).
After watching and listening to Melanie’s podcast, I feel like I have a much better grasp on copyright and the laws that there to protect us and others.
Reference
Wrobel, M. (2016). A Guide to Copyright [Audio recording]. Retrieved from https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/page/view.php?id=347413