The Cadence of Digital Learning in a Copyrighted World – Week #3 Reflection

harmonicstream
No comments yet

I understand that creating something original is the very best approach to creating an artistic work.  But consider the wonderful works created by notable artists that have been inspired by other artistic greats.

Mozart had a powerful influence on Beethoven who inspired countless musicians and Cézanne had a powerful influence on Picasso who has inspired countless painters.

Fast forward today and consider the countless artists (musicians, artists, poets, choreographers, etc.) who have been inspired by the avant-garde works of Zappa, Bowie, and Prince. I’d like to think that all of these extraordinary artists would rather see an infinite stream of creativity flow based on their creative works rather than a momentary stream of profit.

And with today’s technological advancements, there’s now an infinite stream of digital learning resources available to inspire creativity and innovation with just the click of a mouse. There’s also something called copyright infringement that I think has too often played a role in the stifling of creativity for the fear of being sued.

What exactly was the intention of copyright laws when they were first enacted as the Copyright Act of 1790? I believe the laws were originally intended to protect authors of their creative works (literary, dramatic, artistic, musical, etc). The law received a major revision in 1909 as the U.S. Copyright Act but with the sudden rise of publishers it seems that there was shift in who was being protected by the laws.

And then the copyright laws were revised once again in 1976 with the U.S. Copyright Law. The rule of “Fair Use” was incorporated with the intent to balance the interest in wider distribution of creative works by allowing the copying of copyrighted material for limited or transformative purposes. But once again it seems the scales became unbalanced with fair use oftentimes serving the interests of corporate publishers who didn’t even create the content to begin with and only concerned about profits.

This is where the Creative Commons community comes in to save the day by offering a global network of copyrighted and public domain digital learning resources. They are the hero in today’s copyrighted world operating as a global nonprofit organization and their exchange bank of creativity and knowledge is based on the spirit of sharing through networking and collaboration.  I’m thrilled to see a rise in the Open Education Resources (OER) movement through the support of the Creative Commons community.

As for challenging myself this past week, as if trying to wrap my head around copyright and fair use while still being on the road with my family isn’t enough, my goal for creating content for this class was to try to once again aim for authenticity and being a little different.

I used a vintage typewriter made by Underwood-Oliveti that I found in our beach rental and used it to create content for the DS106 Daily Create 5 word challenge.  I learned that WYSIWUG doesn't necessary translate between devices:

I was happy to see one of my fellow classmates also taking the time to embrace Mother Nature for inspiration:

A couple of days later I decided to create a soundscape for the 30 second story challenge using what I had available at the rental and in my suitcase.  I used that cool vintage typewriter once again recording a track of me typing a secret message to my daughter over some of my handwritten lyrics that I then placed in a bottle to use as a visual image for my soundscape track.  The following morning, I heading out to the beach before my family woke up to record the sound of waves crashing against the beautiful La Jolla Cove.  I decided to name my track  "Lyrics in a Bottle" as a play on Sting's "Message in a Bottle", one of my favorite songs.

Creating that digital story resonated with me for the rest of the day so I decided to honor that experience by taking my daughter out to the beach later that afternoon to throw out her own message in a bottle.  Who knew that learning with digital stories coursework could be such a cathartic experience?

I can't wait to see what happens for Week #4 with the remix of culture!