Copyright Law Catches Up

Today sees a change in law that makes legal what has been very common practice for a long time.  Ever since iPods and MP3 players came along, many people have been digitising their CD collections so they could listen to them on the go.  Most people were probably unaware that doing so was actually illegal as it infringed the copyright of the producer.  So now you can do so legally, provided you don't share the digitised music with anyone else - put it on a device owned and used by someone else - that it remains for personal use.  If you read this article on the BBC News site, you'll see that the Musician's Union and other groups representing musicians and artsists object to the law because it doesn't include any way for musicians to be compensated for individuals not purchasing music specifically for their portable devices (through iTunes etc.).  Do you think this change in the law will make a real difference to the fortunes of musicians and the music industry or do you agree with the government that it is just bringing the law into line with people "reasonable expectations" and help to "boost respect for copyright"?

Technology, Philosophy, Meaning and More

I saw this guy, Jaron Lanier, on Newsnight last night discussing the controversy over Instragram's new terms and conditions and I had to look him up.  He made a great point on Newsnight that if we continue to share everything for free over the internet, all that people will be able to make money from on the internet is advertising.  However, he goes on, if in an information economy we can only make money out of advertising, then what is the point of the advertising if there are no longer any 'products' to be sold and, consequently, advertised because they have all been shared for free.  You can think about music and other intellectual property type products here.  I looked him up and found the following clip on Youtube where he talks to an audience at CalArts - a third level educational institution in California.  It's inspiring stuff and takes in everything from Science Fiction, Karl Marx, Industialisation, Aristotle to slavery.  Stay with it because it will make you think about everything we study in Media, including copyright, meaning making (Hall's encoding and decoding) and, of course, technology. I'm definitely putting his book, "You Are Not a Gadget" on my wish list.  Of course, his is only one point of view but it is great to see someone combining so many different ideas and historical moments in an effort to make sense of our world today. 

Generic Trailers

It's slightly tongue in cheek but this article on The Guardian website should serve as a useful reminder of the conventions of trailers for different genres.  Read it before committing to your storyboard.

Great Titles in One Short Video

The Art of the Title has packed some great titles from the history of cinema into a quick 2.5 minute video.  Pay close attention to how well edited this is.


A Brief History of Title Design from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.