For Module 7, we studied the way the law affects the media and how people use it. It was concerning to realize that there were so many ways that the government and powerful companies could control the way we produce and share content. But it’s not just them–the individual can harm another individual just as much (or more) than those we think of as the power players.
I’d say the things that concerned me the most were the copyright issues and the concept of companies like Comcast filtering the things that we see. I don’t believe that any company should have the right to choose what people should and shouldn’t do with their internet connection. I know that many people are now getting VPNs that ensure they can hide their activity from their internet providers so they won’t get dropped from the service. I understand that internet providers don’t want to be responsible for people breaking the law under their service, but I think the most reasonable thing for them to do is simply to look away. Nobody should blame Comcast if it turns out people were illegally downloading films on the connection they provided.
Copyright is another big one. Again, I understand why it is so hotly debated–obviously, companies don’t want their content stolen. But the big ones often put a blanket ban on their content that makes fair use extremely hazy and causes copyright strikes to be placed on things that aren’t even correct. I also firmly believe in the fair use policy–most content creators are using content from big companies in a new, unique way and therefore, their activities should fall under fair use. Additionally, I think our society benefits from being much more open about copyright laws in the name of art.
For example, there’s an entire YouTube Audio Library that posts music free for anyone to use, and it’s extremely popular. Big companies are missing out on the chance for their content to receive free promotion through being used and remixed because they’re not allowing it to be used at all–rather, they punish people for using it, even if those people pay for it first.
The information I learned in this module won’t really change the way I use media. I have a YouTube channel where I occasionally post song covers, but I’m not worried about copyright because I use my own backing tracks instead of ones from the original song. When I blog about TV shows, I use screenshots that I find on the internet, which also haven’t incurred any copyright issues so far. I’ve also made it a point not to be too negative on the internet–not only would it be bad form in my opinion to antagonize people, but it could also attract a defamation lawsuit that I certainly would not want.
Overall, I believe that media law will continue to evolve and change. In some ways, it’ll probably be more scary in 10 years. But in other ways, as supply and demand changes, it may actually get better. After all, media is a business, and whatever makes the most money is what’s probably going to win out in the end. In the meantime, I’m going to keep making original content that I don’t have to worry about and try to sleep well at night.
Until next time,
Quinlyn
