Copywrong

Oh noes, the class is almost over! That means this could be, like, my second-to-last blog post. Maybe. Who knows anymore?

So anyway, we talked about copyright laws and Fair Use policy and such this week, and there were some pretty big eye-openers. Some good, some bad. Some mediocre. Can there be a mediocre eye-opener? We shall see.

For one thing, it really surprised me how much like every other type of law copyright law really was. Despite the clear-cut rules, there seemed to be a loophole to everything. Oh, sure, you thought you followed the rules, but you did this for this reason instead of another reason, so bad on you. The quiz we took had some pretty ridiculous outcomes, to be honest. One case even specifically stated that the moral implications were not considered. Like... at all. Odd, no? Kinda thought that was part of the process.

But for every negative thing, there was a positive, or at least chin-scratch-worthy, surprise. For instance, who knew that Bill Nye was such a cool guy that he lets his tapes be used from tapes even if protocol was not followed to a t? That was pretty awesome.

Overall, I still think that it's hard to follow copyright law perfectly. Then again, it's hard to follow every law perfectly when you don't know all the rules. This is likely just going to have to be a "learn by doing" type thing. I'll probably make a few mistakes, but I think in the end I'll have a better understanding not just of the process, but of the thought behind it.

At least... I hope so.