TALKING BACK
Every line of work, whether it's a novel or a work of art or a song, is always influenced by someone else's work. There is never a time when someone can say, "I am original" or "I created an original work of art." I could sit there and call them all liars, however I won't. It is completely true with the first part of his refrain by saying "Creativity and innovation always builds on the past." It may not be completely obvious to the common eye, but there is still some reoccurrence that exists. In literature, you will always find something about the bible or Shakespeare. Have you ever been listening to the radio and you think you hear your favorite song from the 80's and come to realize that really it's a one hit wonder by Jessica Simpson? Precisely, we always build from the past. As for copyright laws, I personally believe that they should last until after the person has passed away (not to be crude in any manner). Think about it, what would it matter to the original person who wrote that one line that they feel is unbelievably the best line they could project out of their own head after they have died? Why would someone want to sit there and steal something from one of Homer's works when clearly anyone with common knowledge would know that they obviously took that from them? Anyone with a brain would not sit there and steal the idea of a melting clock, put it into their painting, and be able to call it their own original work without people not being able to take them seriously. I personally believe its common knowledge. Without a doubt, it's bound to happen. Next week I will probably turn on the radio to hear a new song that is the latest mix of Kanye West or Twista with yet ANOTHER song that was on the top twenty list ten years ago. It's perfectly fine, if not flattering. On the other hand, as we borrow from past work and build on it, give it a new spin; it takes on a new life of its own. Yes, you can than call it original, fresh, new, relevant for today. I still wouldn't call it stealing. It is simply another form of learning and sharing ideas.
COMMONS HOW-TO
Although I can't really figure out how to get the actual license onto my page without it being just the code, I'll still write why I chose the license I chose.
My work comes from my past knowledge, past experiences, and my own personal creative touches. Everything I wrote, most likely is inspired by someone else's work. So for me to sit there and hold back others from building and creating something amazing of their own by not allowing others to borrow from myself and my work would be almost cruel. Now I wouldn't want to have my exact direct work to be taken and said as someone else's is, so therefore there needs to be a balance: a creative commons. If that were the case of a something exact being taken, then of course I would want credit for my own work. But a twist or a build off of something I created should be free for anyone to do. I chose a non-commercial creative commons because that allows my work to not become broadcasted anywhere without my consent. That's not what my work is here for. It's here to share ideas, compare interests, share knowledge, learn and build from each other.
I began reading what some of the other students in the class were writing about in their commons how-to section, and I came upon reading Daniel's page. I completely agree with what he is saying. Having to formally sit there and cite your work and where you obtained each little piece of information is ridiculous. However, in some cases it's needed. It is so easy these days to find anything on the internet, incredible works and essays by doctors and people who just received their masters in psychology. Here is perfect example: college. We all are going to have to write something that proves that we have the knowledge and the capability of obtaining knowledge. hell maybe even learned something in college. With the internet in the palm of our hands, available for access for whatever and whenever we need, we can just as easily fake that knowledge. We can only fake it however, without copyright laws, citations, or even creative commons.
COMBINED KEYWORD SEARCH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsGIOuIgw-0
I chose to search YouTube combining the keywords 'sustainability' and 'design' since that strikes my interest. I discovered a video that incorporated my love for the environment, with my love for the magazine industry. There wasn't much to build off of with the comments other people had left to correspond with the video, however I was able to build my own opinion to share from watching it.
One of the questions brought about by the host was how well promoting sustainable products was really doing in promoting sustainability, when in all actuality people should simply just be buying less. Susan Szenasy, editor in chief of Metropolis Magazine (sustainable metropolis), responded quickly by saying that it's more or less of the way we think and "shifting our ideas." What she means by this, more or less, is our priorities. Are we more about the materialistic things in our life, or are we more about knowledge and learning, and growing from that? Now, I believe that you can go on until the end of time preaching the word of sustainability, and yes you will find people to sit there and really change their ways and become more aware of their surroundings and the environment as a whole, what we can do protect it and what not. However, you cannot change the whole world’s perspective. There are going to be people that are going to live, eat, breathe materialism. There are going to be people that build these enormous houses that take so much energy from our world to create when in all actuality they only need a two room and one bathroom living space. Will you change these ridiculous minds of the materialistic people in our society? Maybe a few. But for sustainability to really keep progressing, you need just a little bit of help from everyone. However, I also do believe that with our media and our society today, you could almost get the entire youth to follow in this direction of almost boycotting anything that isn't natural. If you show celebrities on television only buying natural products and having a "natural diet" then there will be this wave in the new scene of kids and young adults following suit. So, is it possible? I believe that some sort of change is possible. It is just going to take more out of society, and more out of our youth, because they are the ones that can start the wave and continue it.
FREE CULTURE
I recall reading a book called How to Read Literature Like a Professor which overall was a guide written by Thomas C. Foster on how to "read between the lines." He had an entire chapter dedicated to the idea of there being no such thing as an original piece of work. He referenced back to Tim O'Brien's novel Going After Cacciato and how almost everything within the novel was derived from somewhere else. Yet he still found him to be completely original. "Let you conclude with dismay that the novel is somehow plagiarized or less than original, let me add that I find the book wildly original, that everything O’Brien borrows makes perfect sense in the context of the story he's telling, even more so once we understand that he has repurposed materials from older sources to accomplish his own ends." O'Brien was one example of how you can actually use something that once was, and make it into your own into something more modern.
Back-Lauren Dow
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