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"Copyright and Politics Don't Mix." New York Times [0362-4331] (2008). 29-.
In this Op-Ed in the New York Times, Lessig discusses fair use and political speech. He argues that copyright law should be limited to it's intended purpose, "encouraging innovation and ensuring that artists get paid for their work," and should not interract with politics. Lessig praises the McCain campaign for criticizing YouTube's decision to remove a video that is ''clearly privileged under the fair use doctrine'' because he feels that claiming copyright infringement on political speech constitutes censorship and violates the First Amendment's protection of free speech. Political campaigns do not seek "first to the market advantages" and their use of copyrighted materials does not harm the rights' owner. Rather, calling such political speech copyright infringement hurts the effectiveness of a political campaign. Lessig believes that while copyright laws are necessary in Hollywood to encourage continued innovation and progress, their presence in political campaigns, where they are unnecessary, will ultimatelty harm the legitimate claims of musicians and film studios.
Lessig's article is clearly relevant to the question of copyright's role in serving the public interest, as politics is an integral part of government affairs. It directly answers the question "does copyright hinder free speech?" with a clear yes, which indirectly also answers yes to "does copyright harm the public interest?" There must be a delicate balance of copyright laws with the First Amendment in order to not infringe upon constitutional rights, and Lessig loudly argues that in political campaigns, copyright laws cross this line and censor political speech, thus encroaching upon the First Amendment. When these rights are infringed upon and the public is restricted from hearing such speech which delivers information pertinent to an election campaign, the public interest is no longer protected. Lessig argues that although fair use will usually protect political speech, if it does not, copyright laws should not apply because they do more harm than good. In the larger context, harming the distribution of important information during a campaign certainly hurts the public interest.
belongs to Copyright and the Public Interest project
tagged censorship copyright fair_use lessig by amyiw ...on 22-NOV-08
tagged censorship copyright fair_use lessig by amyiw ...on 22-NOV-08
Lessig, Lawrence. ""Creatives face a closed Net." 28 December 2005
Lessig writes about the recent development of a record company, Wind-Up Records, requesting AnimeMusicVideos.org (perhaps the largest online collection of anime music videos and "AMV" artists) to remove all links to music videos containing music by their artists. These artists included Evanescence and Creed, bands popular among fans and with a large number of music videos on the site, roughly 3,000. He points to the AMV movement as a sign of the growing read-write culture allowed by the internet and computers that new generations are increasingly participating in. Where content owners try to enforce a "Read-Only" environment where viewers/users can look, but not touch, Lessig advocates the development of creativity and benefits thereof for those (often young) fans who take it upon themselves to add to the artistic tableau of a medium. He even relates a personal anecdote about his son, in which the only way he was accepted to a prominent university was by showing them the AMVs he had made as an example of his artistic talent. Lessig sees the struggle between copyright holders and young, artistically motivated fans as the new battle to be fought, and one in which it should be easy to see which side is in the right. Of course, according to current US copyright law (backed by copyright holding corporations) such employment of "Read-Write" culture is illegal. The internet, however, has afforded both an opportunity to put such artistic expression on easy display and an at least temporary hurdle for content owners to leap in order to stomp down on "unfair" uses due to its expanse and level of anonymity.
Lessig writes about the recent development of a record company, Wind-Up Records, requesting AnimeMusicVideos.org (perhaps the largest online collection of anime music videos and "AMV" artists) to remove all links to music videos containing music by their artists. These artists included Evanescence and Creed, bands popular among fans and with a large number of music videos on the site, roughly 3,000. He points to the AMV movement as a sign of the growing read-write culture allowed by the internet and computers that new generations are increasingly participating in. Where content owners try to enforce a "Read-Only" environment where viewers/users can look, but not touch, Lessig advocates the development of creativity and benefits thereof for those (often young) fans who take it upon themselves to add to the artistic tableau of a medium. He even relates a personal anecdote about his son, in which the only way he was accepted to a prominent university was by showing them the AMVs he had made as an example of his artistic talent. Lessig sees the struggle between copyright holders and young, artistically motivated fans as the new battle to be fought, and one in which it should be easy to see which side is in the right. Of course, according to current US copyright law (backed by copyright holding corporations) such employment of "Read-Write" culture is illegal. The internet, however, has afforded both an opportunity to put such artistic expression on easy display and an at least temporary hurdle for content owners to leap in order to stomp down on "unfair" uses due to its expanse and level of anonymity.
belongs to Copyright and Culture: Anime Music Videos project
tagged Japan Lessig anime fair_use music_video read-write by amcarl ...on 28-NOV-06
tagged Japan Lessig anime fair_use music_video read-write by amcarl ...on 28-NOV-06