What’s all of the fuss about copyright…….

Unless you have been sleeping under a rock, by now you have heard all of the hoopla over copyright issues, the recording industry of america, You Tube’s problems, etc…etc.  The blog world has even been on fire of late because their is a Arizona law suit by the RIAA claiming that they can come after you if you copy your music on your computer (although the legal brief says to a “my sharing” folder). 

Now as a content producer, I am torn by my position on this.  On the one hand, I no for a fact that people are stealing our DVDs, making copies, giving it to their friends and possible even selling it.  And I was pissed that someone had the nerve to take a video off of my site and put it on You tube but it got me thinking…EXPOSURE…

At first I was little annoyed at the whole You Tube thing until Adrian and I had a long talk and we decided who cares as long as people give us credit for our work.  NBC’s “The Office” would not have had half the ratings it currenlty does (including downloads and DVD sales) if it weren’t for the countless You Tube clips that were up.  For them, it worked out great.  So why can’t it work for us?  So now, I don’t really care if our clips show up around the internet – as long as we are given proper credit and people know where to go to see more, then FIND BY ME. 

Now stealing money out of my pockets – I think I would have to draw the line there.  Steal one copy, like it, decide to buy another copy – no big deal to me (although technically it is against the law).  But keep getting bootleg copies and I don’t get one penny – then that’s really not fair since this is what I do for a living and how I put food on the table.

The scary thing is that some publishers and copyright holders have gone to the extreme.  Many of you know that I am an avid video gamer – one day (while sitting on the porcelean throne) – I read the fine print of a couple of my favorite games and would you know it….They (THQ & EA) will not allow you to make a back up copy of the very product you bought.  So if you scratch your disc by accident, you have to pay for a new copy – you aren’t allow to make a copy for yourself.  WHAT EVER HAPPEN TO FAIR USE!!  Their fine print has basically told me you bought it but you really don’t own it and if you lose it or scratch it – oh well…you are out of luck or out of money.

That is why the blog world was in an uproar when it was alleged that the RIAA was saying no to copying your own music to your computer.  Now the RIAA has back pedaled in the media and althought they don’t come out officially saying that you can copy to your computer, they are absolutely saying that they DID NOT SAY you can’t copy to your computer.  Did you get that?  If you are confused, join the crowd and half of america.

I guess my position is sometimes you can give a little to get a lot – a grey area that is not very easy to define but in the end it’s always better to do the right thing.

Thomas