Creative Commons

            Last week we discussed the increasing popularity in “citizens” producing journalism, filmmaking, and game development. This week is an in-depth case study of some of the problems caused by this shift from large industries as main producers to “citizens” producing for themselves. The centre of the issue revolves around copyright laws and the struggle between protection of individual property, promoting creativity and innovation, and increasing the public’s knowledge and resources. Copyrighting originally reserved all rights of the creation to the original creator. Through Creative Commons Licensing agreements some of those rights can be waved, allowing the product, whether it is a song, invention, or idea, to be more easily accessible to the public.

            Creative Commons Licensing allows creators to give certain freedoms to the general public regarding their property in combinations of four categories: attribution, derivatives, commercial use, and share alike (Seneviratne et al., 2009). Attribution means that someone using the material must give credit to the original creator. Derivatives allows users to change or distort the product is some way to create a new product. The commercial aspect of the agreement deals with allowing people to use the product for commercial gain. Creative Commons Licensing agreements can choose to allow or not allow derivatives and/or commercial use of their products. The final category is “share alike” and allows creators to say that for someone to use their product it has to meet the standards of the original. Under a share alike agreement no derivatives are allowed and the replica must match to quality of the original.

            Copyright laws used to be easier to monitor when large corporations were the main producers and production costs were very high, but with digitization, and the ease with which “citizens” can copy and use material for their own productions copyright laws are getting harder and harder to monitor and maintain. Seneviratne et al. (2009) discuss the difficulties with protecting the rights of people that put photographs up on the internet, and the struggles with detecting copyright infringements online. With the ease of downloading and sharing songs in digital form, the music industry has had particular difficulty in dealing with copyright infringements. Creative Commons Licensing is trying to help copyright laws by restoring a balance between individual’s property and public’s resources.

Figure 1
http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Blink-182

            As Tehranian (2007) says in his research paper for the University of Utah, “with the tools for creation, manipulation, and widespread dissemination of copyrighted work in the hands of an ever-increasing number of individuals... copyright has infiltrated public consciousness” (p. 540). This has become most apparent in the music industry, where even television shows, such as South Park (Figure 1), have created episodes on the subject. While some loss of revenue from declining record sales has been an issue, artists are also concerned with others using their songs in new works.

Figure 2
http://angeladuncan.wordpress.com/2008/06/

Remixes and “mash-ups” have become increasingly popular with the rise in popularity of artists such as Girl Talk (Figure 2) and Super Mash Bros. This style of music does not require the artist to create any original music using instruments, but rather they mix together parts of other songs to create their own. This is much easier and cheaper from a production stand point and has inspired a very tech savvy generation to try it themselves. Many amateur “mash-ups” can be found all over the internet, and while professionals such as Girl Talk pay for the rights to use the songs they mix together, amateurs typically do not. This is where many copyright infringements occur, and where Creative Commons can be the most help.

 Amateurs are typically not trying to sell their “mash-ups”, but instead are trying to show off their technical skills. With Creative Commons Licensing artists can require attribution, so amateurs can use it as long as they give credit to the original, and set a no commercial clause to it, so that professionals that want to use it to sell still have to pay for it. Artists are already having to adapt to the downloading era in music, some have set up websites where people can download the music and name their own price anywhere from nothing to 99 dollars (Evans, 2010). According to Evans (2010), this helps reduce the need for illegal piracy, and while most people download it for free, they spread the word around, getting more people to download and some people do donate. Artists can use Creative Commons Licensing in the same way. By only reserving some rights, instead of all, they can allow amateurs to spread their work around increasing their popularity.

  

References

Evans, K. (2010). Music’s new entrepreneurs. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/25/smashing-pumpkins-radiohead-drake-business-music-indie-entrepreneurs.html

Seneviratne, O., Kagal, L., Weitzner, D., Abelson, H., Berners-Lee, T., & Shadbolt, N. (2009). Detecting creative commons license violations on images on the world wide web. WWW2009. Retrieved from http://dig.csail.mit.edu/2008/Papers/WWW2009/paper.pdf

Tehranian, J. (2007). Infringement nation: copyright reform and the law/norm gap. University of Utah, S. J. Quinney College of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper Series. Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1029151

Citizen Journalism

          With the creation and dispersion of new innovations the focus of journalistic reporting has shifted from professionals to the masses. As Flew (2008) discusses in his book, the development of such powerful mobile devices allows citizens to capture and report news worthy events before professional journalists can even hear about them. Starobin’s (2009) article mentions George H. W. Bush commenting that he gets more information from the CNN news network than from CIA informants (p. 2). Now, with the rise in “citizen journalism” and platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to disperse information quickly, his comment would probably be something more along the lines of learning more from his Facebook “posts” than from watching CNN. An excellent example of this came from my brother’s high school this past week.

Figure 1 http://www.facebook.com/photo.
php?fbid=2544159565595&set=a.103662587
8195.5912.1301910859&type=1&theater

            Last week a shooting took place on a road outside of my old high school. The culprit was stopped for having expired tags on the back of his car. When the officer got out of her patrol car the culprit fired several gun shots at her before fleeing into the woods. All of the schools and roads in the area were put on lock down while the SWAT team was called in to search the area. After 5 hours the culprit was finally found and apprehended. All of the facts of this story, including the gender of the officer and the picture of one of the SWAT members (figure 1), I initially found posted on Facebook. All details of the incident found on Facebook have been verified by my brother Jack Evans (2011), a student at this high school, and by Alongi (2011), a reporter for the Greenville News.

            As this event was occurring all the kids in my old high school were locked down in their individual classrooms. In previous years this would have meant that they would not have any real contact with the outside world, and would just have to wait out the event unsure of how it was unfolding. With the ability to access sites like Facebook and Twitter from their phones however, students were able to communicate between classrooms and schools, and look for news reports online to find out what was going on. Then, using information from all these various sources, they were able to post the story from their perspective, stuck in a classroom somewhere in the school, on various sites. This is a prime example of how “citizen journalism” gets more perspectives of an event out much faster than the old, professional style of journalism. Events can be captured in real time. The technology to easily and cheaply produce this content is the enabling force behind “citizen journalism”, and it is evident in other forms of “citizen” production as well.

Figure 2 http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuff
atthelongestdomainname
atlonglast.com/first320.html 

             Cheaper and easier to obtain/use technologies have lead things like “citizen filmmaking” and “citizen games development” to follow suit after “citizen journalism”. Mini films are created and posted on Youtube by amateurs all the time, and it is becoming easier and easier for people to program their own games. In an attempt to capture audience new infatuation with interaction, some companies have created games, such as LittleBigPlanet, that focus on user generated content to fuel the game. Online games such as Line Rider (Figure 2), provide another platform for “citizens” to show off their creativity. Some, such as myself, do not have much talent to show off, but some have tremendous talent to show off in this form. Many people know Justin Bieber got his start singing on Youtube before he got noticed. In the future, it may be likely that several famous screenwriters, directors, and game developers will also rise to fame through the “citizen” realm.

References

Alongi, P. (2011, October 31). Mauldin man charged after deputy-involved shooting, authorities say. The Greenville News, pp. 1A.

Evans, J. (2011). Interview with a Christ Church Episcopal School Student. Retrieved October 29, 2011.

Flew, T. (2008). New media: an introduction (3^rd ed). (p.22-24). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Starobin, P. (2009). In new media, image is still everything. National Journal. Atlantic Media, Inc. 

Transmedia Storytelling

Figure 1 www.amazon.com/Buzz-Lightyear-Star-

Command-Playstation/dp/B00004TEXV

Transmedia storytelling, or the “process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience” (Jenkins, 2007), has been around for some time now. Many stories have used multiple media channels to extend and connect plot lines, such as Toy Story using a video game to explain the background on Buzz Lightyear (Figure 1). This can be a useful tool in extending the products life and helping to reach new audiences. Bringing back a story in the form of a new media channel is also an excellent way to rejuvenate sales and excitement surrounding that product. This strategy has been used by various different stories, including Star Wars, The Matrix, and various comics that have been turned into movies, television series, video games, and much more. (Jenkins, 2007). Another good example is 24, along with several other television series, deciding to make an appearance on the big screen, and several movies, such as Friday Night Lights, turning into television series.  Although this strategy has seen fairly widespread use on various occasions in the past, crossing between multiple channels in several directions, talk about it appears to have really taken off as of late.

Figure 2 www.nmincite.com/?p=4002

According to Vitter (2011), talk about transmedia storytelling increased by more than four times from 2009 to 2010, see Figure 2, and has continued to rise throughout 2011. While it has been around a while as a marketing tool, the recent increase in popularity in transmedia storytelling is most likely a result of, as most new media, the rise in popularity of the internet. The internet has provided a very simple and easy platform for producer to extend the reach of their story to, and many of them are taking full advantage. Also, coming in at 93 in the J. Walter Thompson Company’s “100 Things to Watch in 2011”, only because items are listed alphabetically, was “Transmedia Producers”. (Mack, 2010). The internet will continue to add to the growing world of transmedia storytelling, but the popularity of transmedia storytelling is also due impart to the current trend towards convergence.

Flew (2008), mentions that convergence in one sense refers to the “interlinking of computing and IT, communications networks, and media content that occurred with the development and popularisation of the internet.” (p.22). With the combination of media content across deferent networks becoming more readily available, it is no wonder that the use of multiple media platforms to tell stories has become more and more popular. The increase in technology has also lead to an increase in the demand for transmedia stories. Now that people are able to access the internet from their smart phones to check email, news, and facebook, they want to be able to find their favourite stories on there as well. Whether they are a fan of Star Wars or Star Trek, as the ability to stay connected to digital media increases, and society’s fixation with new technologies increases, the demand for favourite old stories across an entirely new media platform will continue to increase as well. This demand has helped to create new streams of revenue for old stories. Most recently the trend towards 3D movies has opened up a new ally for Disney to bring back several of its older movies, such as The Lion King. By rereleasing their movies in 3D now, Disney has managed to capture a whole new generation of viewers and reignite its popularity with older viewers. This use of transmedia storytelling is an excellent example of how companies can use it to maximize the potential reach of their stories and the revenue they receive.

Work Cited

Flew, T. (2008). New media: an introduction (3^rd ed). (p.22-24). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Jenkins, H. (2007, March 22). Transmedia storytelling 101. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html

Mack, A. M. (2010). JWT: 100 things to watch in 2011 [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/jwtintelligence/2f-100-things-to-watch-in-2011-6306251

Vitter, L. (2011, March 16). Transmedia storytelling. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.nmincite.com/?p=4002

Knowledge Economy

    I am not doing a full post this week, but in Auckland this weekend I went to see a movie which seemed to fit in with this weeks topic. This weekend I went to see Real Steel with a small group and after reading the chapter and some of the readings due for this week I realized that the movie itself was a kind of metaphor for fighting against this shift into a knowledge economy that we seem to have undergone.

    The movie is about robot boxing. Instead of the old flesh and blood of Rocky and Raging Bull the boxers are now 9 ft tall and made out of steel. These robots are controlled by humans outside of the ring with controllers, like a video game. The protagonist of the film is a former boxer who made the switch to robot boxing as traditional boxing went out of style. As the movie progresses the better boxing robots are not controlled by just one person attempting to box, but by a team of computer technicians working from behind screens. 

    Not to give too much for those who may want to see it, but the end of the movie pits the ultimate in programming technology, the champion bot "Zeus", versus an old beat up bot controlled by an ex-boxer that has to rely on human intuition. It is a battle between knowledge and labor as dominant resources that humans can provide. It also has Hugh Jackman and a boy that dances with a robot. Here is the trailer for your enjoyment: 

 

Convergence

Both Flew(2008) and Standage(2006) refer to two forms of convergence. The first form in both being the convergence of the providers of services, their equipment, the content they provide, and the rules regulating them and more interconnected, and the second is the combining of devices to support multiple purposes. (Flew, p. 22-23; Standage, p. 1). The first form of convergence is very apparent in the in many aspects of media. The Economist points out the telecom and cable television industries as major players in the convergence of services, but it can also be seen in the convergence of Skype (www.skype.com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com) which now allows users to use the video calling capabilities of Skype through the “chat” feature on Facebook. The best example of the second form of convergence is the smart phone, which has become popular because of its abilities to make calls, take pictures, surf the internet, and much more. Having all of these abilities in one compact device is very convenient. The profession that I am working towards is teaching, and a clear example of both forms of convergence that is used in this field and will have a great impact in the future is the iPad (figure 1).

Figure 1 (http://i.bnet.com/blogs/apple-ipad-
reader.jpg?tag=content;drawer-container)

The iPad’s capability to download eBooks, email teachers, and navigate mobile learn shows the combination of various forms of media through one service. In the past students would have had to go to the library or bookshop to get the textbook, call teachers, and rummage through a hard copy of the syllabus to check assignments. All of these tasks can be done from the same device now, generally faster and more conveniently. As the world becomes more digitized the teaching profession is beginning to rely more and more heavily on converged services. More schools are requiring teachers to use site such as iLearn, or mobile learn, to post class assignments, and more books and textbooks are moving to electronic form because of advantages in the content that can be included such as interactive pictures and videos, as seen in video (Matas, 2011). Having one service that can provide all of these services is very useful, because then they can all be accessed on one device.

As a device, the iPad also shows the benefits of morphing devices. The screen is bigger than that of mobile phone, allowing for easier reading things like books and papers, but it is smaller than a laptop, allowing for better mobility. One advantage for me of the iPad over a laptop in class was that the iPad did not actually come up between the professor and I, making it far less distracting. Students will also no longer have to carry around several heavy textbooks, but rather they will download them electronically. The organization of electronic documents is much easier, helping to eliminate the clutter of loose papers. The use of the iPad will extend to teachers as well.

As a teacher I will also be able to carry all of my books on an iPad, and having knowledge of the eBook system will better allow me to help students use it. The iPad can also be used to carry my presentations and class notes. The move away from paper will eventually lead to tests and quizzes being done online, and so I will be able to do most, if not all, of my grading on the iPad as well. The iPad will allow me to email students to answer their questions, or even skype them if they are really struggling. The reason the iPad will have such a great impact on the educational world is essentially that it is the convergence of textbooks, or books in general, and the internet into one convenient device.

Work Cited

Flew, T. (2008). New media: an introduction (3^rd ed). (p.22-24). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Matas, M. (2011). Mike Matas: a next-generation digital book. Talks in Less Than 6 Minutes. TED. Retrieved from www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mike_matas.html 

Strandage, T. (Oct. 12th, 2006). All things to all men. The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/7995324/print

www.facebook.com

www.skype.com

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