The most recent assignment for our class was a sampling experience. We needed to use images from either the Internet, or actual pictures, to create an argument about copyright. Our challenge was to create the same argument twice, only using different sources. For the first sample, we were free to use any images we could find, copyrighted or not (protected by "fair use" I believe because it was for a school project). The second sample, however, could only contain images that were in the public domain (either the copyright on the image expired, it was licensed under creative commons, or the images were our own property).
As I'm sure most of my fellow classmates did, I found the second sample more difficult to create than the first. Having the freedom to use any image I wanted for the first sample, really allowed my argument to come through and speak for itself. I must admit, the second sample was not as difficult as I imagined it to be, however, only because of creative commons. If it were not for creative commons, I'm pretty sure I would still be working on it and would've ended up using images from clip art, or simply drawing the whole thing. Creating a visual argument without having access to the proper images, because of copyright law, is either impossible, or extremely time-consuming and unsatisfying.
My visual argument was supposed to convey a community of new technological creativity that is being held captive (hence the prison bars) by copyright law. I believe that much of the new technology that is/has been created is our generations form of creativity (including computers, communications, music, and entertainment). With all of the extensions of copyright and lawsuits led by monopoly companies, creativity is hindered. People are afraid of being punished for being creative, and some of these people are just not willing to take that risk. It brings about an ethical question: How much regulation can be enforced before we are no longer willing to be creative at the expense of freedom?
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