Here's a little video I made to demonstrate how artists borrow from previous artists' works, not just as homage, but as a kind of short-hand to the viewer about subject matter, and to add commentary to the previous work. In this manner, "Fair Use" helps to contribute to a common culture through visual language. The same type of phenomenon can be used to show the benefits of Fair Use in other media as well.

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An update vlog on a number of things, including the Judge's reversal in a controversial decision in the Viacom V. YouTube case, the subtle difference between evil and stupidity, whether or not I'll be going to SouthTube in October, Big George (my cat)'s health, and a couple of other things. Sounds like a boring vlog, but look at the pretty scenery.

The judge in the Viacom v YouTube/Google copyright case has ruled that YouTube/Google have to turn over our private user data of every video viewed on the site, since it launched in 2005 (New York Times article). Is it time to boycott Viacom? Or is it time to stop watching YouTube?

Yet another vlog about copyright... The state of Oregon actively protects their copyright on Oregon state law and have sent "cease and desist" letters to a couple of web sites that had posted the law as a public service.

Links promised in the video:

Oregon Revised Statutes
Oregon Cease and Desist Letter (scribd)
Oregon: "Our laws are copyrighted" (boingboing)
10 Myths about Copyright Explained
Copyright law of the United States
U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use
YouTomb (MIT)

Oh, and, by the way, the Oregon State Legislative Council can bite my ass. (Music by Ludwig Van Beethoven, who's been dead for a really long time.)

Not a week goes by on YouTube without a group of vloggers doing a collaboration video wishing another vlogger a happy birthday. And, in those collaborations, somebody always sings the traditional "Happy Birthday" song. Unfortunately, that song is actually copyrighted, owned by Time-Warner, and they consider singing it on sites like YouTube or LiveVideo to be a "public performance" that requires paying a royalty.

And so, I offer my all-new copyright-free Happy Birthday song. Have fun with it; it's my gift to the world.

More info and resources... Unhappy Birthday - Happy Birthday Screw You (by Kembrew McLeod) - and Snopes Urban Legend Reference Page.