David Middlebrook's Post:
After watching all of the videos on copyright, fair use, and so forth, I felt like the information was fed to me through a fire hose. I knew going into the readings that copyright was a touch subject and has been the source of many lawsuits over the years. There have been some school districts that have even had their hand slapped regarding copyright infringement.
My first introduction to copyright was when I studied music in college. One of my upper level courses touched on the subject briefly. So I had just enough information about the subject to keep me out of most issues. Copyright was still a hard subject to grasp. There are so many grey areas that it is hard to “know when to hold em’” or “fold em’”, as Kenny Rogers would explain in The Gambler. Use of copyright material could literally be a gamble.
Musicians have borrowed musical ideas from each other for centuries, however there are many intricacies of copyright that apply that composers of the 18th and 19th centuries didn't have to deal with. As a band director, when having students participate in recorded concerts, issues arise with regard to copyright, especially when Disney songs are involved. They have such a tight reign on their property that it is nearly impossible to duplicate anything related to them.
The pop group “Men at Work” found out the hard way recently that permission for even using a popular melody must be sought before taking credit for the creation. The videos did a fair job of defining the proper uses of copyrighted material and a more accurate description of fair use.
To be on the safe side, educators should create their own materials. Many of the classes at Full Sail have stressed this. If you have to use others work, either use Creative Commons material with the proper attribution, or get permission from the author/creator of the work.
If I were to have one gripe, it would have been nice to have this material presented in the first few months of our EMDT program. I understand that everything is set in place for the sequence, but it would have been nice to understand a little more about the issues with copyright a little earlier.
My Response to David's Post:
David:
First, I want to say, "Howdy!" as I have never had you as a classmate in previous months. Now that the warm introduction is taken care of, I must say that I enjoyed reading your views on the area of copyright. I share many of your sentiments pertaining to misconceptions of what we can and cannot use. It has always been a gray area. If I could give you a virtual 'high five', it would be in response to your statement that we should have covered this at the beginning of our program. This way we could have had a more in-depth relevant awareness of Copyright and Fair Use. Certainly, there's more to it than just citing sources in the credits.
I remember when I was in High School band when we would have our freestyle jam sessions. We (especially our drum line) would infuse a lot of the beats and bass lines that were in popular R&B and rap music at the time. However, we were never allowed to play that at performances. We never understood (or cared about) copyright and licensing fees back then. We just thought that our band director insisted on taking all the fun out of band! NOW I understand why.
Over the next few weeks, I will make it my solemn duty to wake up each morning, stand in front of the mirror and declare, "Fair Use is my friend." We will slowly realize that, as educators, we are being granted the privilege to ensure history is preserved and taught to the next generation of learners.
