Brainstorm:
I chose the second essay topic for my first paper: Should copyright laws be reformed (changed) or enforced? Specifically, which facets of the law would you recommend be either changed or enforced?
I am actually applying the piece of Copyright Law that I examined in this coming paper: “A design is “original” if it is the result of the designer's creative endeavor that provides a distinguishable variation over prior work pertaining to similar articles which is more than merely trivial and has not been copied from another source” (Copyright Law: § 1301. Designs protected). The definition for the term “original design” is defined vaguely. However, this piece of Copyright Law seems limiting people’s creativity because people cannot borrow ideas from “original” work and invent a new project. The Copyright Laws also violates people’s freedom to share, because the Copyright Laws are trying to protect author’s authorship and restricting people from sharing information or ideas with each other.
My tentative thesis is: Copyright Laws should be reformed because it limits people’s creativity and violates people’s freedom to share.
1. For my first argument, I am using the Mickey Mouse argument from DeVoss and Porter’s article. If Disneyland had not borrowed idea from someone else, one of the most popular characters Mickey Mouse would not even be created to bring entertainment to people.
2. For my second argument, I am using Lenz’s video (kid dancing) argument from Lessig’s article. The protection of authorship is in fact limiting people’s freedom to share ideas and thoughts.
Conclusion: Go back to my thesis - Copyright Laws should be reformed because it limits people’s creativity and violates people’s freedom to share. If we do not reform the Copyright Laws, the current Copyright Laws will continually harm human cultural development.
David - Looks great! When you talk about the human culture piece, Lessig talks about that quite a bit, so you may want to cite him.
ReplyDeleteDavid, your post caught my eye because you mentioned the fact that Disneyland actually borrowed ideas from elsewhere...I'm kind of a kid at heart and I love Disney. Anyways, that was one of the facts that stuck out to me most too in the article and I think it is a great argument because it tugs on a lot of heartstrings. I think the strength in that argument is the fact that many people can connect and relate to that; I mean, I understand remixing music videos but I don't listen to music very often so that topic isn't something that I really relate too.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would like to offer a suggestion for your thesis! I wonder if saying that it "limits creativity" and "violates people's freedom to share ideas and thoughts" is a little bit too broad of topics. Maybe you could think about specifying what type of creativity you are talking about (scientific, mathematic, artistic, musical, cultural)? I think cultural creativity is really specific to your topic too, especially relating to disneyland and the way we now communciate with loved ones. Also, I think it would be good to mention that sharing of ideas is not always "good" because those who pirate music could also argue that they are "sharing ideas" with others...
Thank you for the suggestion Teresa! The comment is useful I will try to fix it for my first paper. I was wondering what words to use for the "creativity", now I found it haha. Also, I was wondering if I should write a counterargument, I guess I need to mention a little bit about that as well. Thanks lol
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