Tag: copyright

  • Universal Studios 1, Creativity 0

    I recently clashed with Giant Media Corporation Universal Studios over copyright, and lost.  I probably could push it and win, but their lawyers can beat up my lawyers, and whether I’m right or wrong is probably irrelevant. The argument was brokered by YouTube, whose interest is in remaining neutral so that Giant Media Corporations don’t…

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  • Tired of Shelling Out Ten Grand to Sing “Happy Birthday”?

    What’s that? You’re not paying Time Warner, the copyright holder, for the rights to sing “Happy Birthday to You” in a public place? You could be opening yourself up to a lawsuit! That’s apparently what they charge. It’s probably just enough to earn a coupla million a year, but not quite enough to prompt a…

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  • Maintaining Ownership of Your Images

    Scott Bourne made some interesting points on the blog Photofocus. He pointed out something many of us overlook in today’s world of social media marketing and sharing – that posting a photo via Twitter (which will apparently soon be possible) or Twitpic, or even on sites like Facebook means you have basically given up control…

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  • Fair Use in Online Video

    I just received my periodic newsletter from American University’s Center for Social Media, and was reminded of an excellent talk I heard last year by its director, Pat Aufderheide.  She started off by explaining that the purpose of copyright was to support creativity.  She showed a brief video giving snapshots of YouTube favorites and asked…

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  • Words Matter Too

    Finally giving credit to the “lyricist” part of songwriting, an interesting article in today’s New York Times talks about growing interest in charging royalties for song lyrics.  The article points out: For decades, printed song lyrics lived in relative obscurity, relegated to album sleeves and sheet music. And until now, they provided no significant source…

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  • Searching for a Soundtrack

    Debunking common myths about music for video editing, followed by a long list of free and / or inexpensive sources of music for your video project.

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  • In search of raw materials…

    Those of us who aspire to make video on a budget that is significantly less than, say $100 million have our own challenges. One of these is finding raw materials – legally – to incorporate into our work. Music is the obvious shortcoming- unless you’re also a songwriter and musician, you probably can’t afford to…

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  • The importance of music

    Music can be the make-or-break element in any video product. The skill with which this tool is wielded can make all the difference. If you decide to use music created by others, insure you read the “fine print”!

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