Copyright this.

The Internet and I have had an interesting week. After years of use and appreciation on my part, I have finally been on the receiving end of the law. About 6 months ago, I uploaded a video to YouTube that I had created. This video featured one of my favorite songs by Jason Mraz and clips from the BBC television series Doctor Who. Now, I can appreciate the whole idea of copyright, but the way I saw this project... well, I'll get into that later. First, let me explain what happened.

After posting this video in September, it just sort of hibernated on YouTube for a while. Not too many people watched it, but the ones who did, really appreciated it. After a while, I got tired of checking it everyday to see the change in view count, so I just started checking it about once a week. Then about two weeks ago, the view count jumped from 400 to 700 in a few days. And within a week, it was about to hit 1,300. I was delighted. But then, the next morning, when I went to check again, the video had been taken down. The Warner Music Group had finally decided to step in and flag it for copyright infringement for the use of the song.

Now, I've thought about this a lot, and here are some of my arguments with this situation:

- First of all, this wasn't a problem 6 months ago, and there are only a few things that have changed since then that would have caused them to ban the video. A. Jason Mraz has definitely grown in popularity, 2... er, B. My video was jumping up quickly in views, or C. maybe YouTube has just implemented some crazy new software that can tell when you are using copyrighted music.

- I have a pretty good feeling that if I asked Jason Mraz if he minds that I've posted this video, he wouldn't have a huge problem with it. He's made it pretty clear that he supports piracy (community love?) and open source materials because it's about sharing art with one another. That's what's important here.

- Ok, I understand that I'm using materials that do not belong to me, but I have acknowledged that they do not belong to me in a disclaimer and I've created something brand new with these items. The song was not meant to describe the relationship between these two characters and the clips have been painstakingly cut and sewn together to tell another version of a story. I've created something brand new and I think that giving credit to the materials and artists that I've pulled from should be sufficient.

- I'm not making any money off of this video, and since I'm not a YouTube partner, YouTube shouldn't be making any money off of it either.

- And finally, some might argue that this video is free advertising for both Jason Mraz and Doctor Who. Someone looking for one of these things is now being exposed to the other... I'm building audiences here. People who are tired of the same old stuff are seeing and hearing it all in a completely new way. I'm keeping the song and the show fresh and exciting. Oh, and did I mention, I've created something new? Sharing it with the world? Art? What?

I apologize for ranting, but I really think that our copyright laws need to be reevaluated. The Internet is changing so many things, including the way we experience and interpret the creation of art. Technology is making it more and more possible to share ideas with one another and I think that many of the older systems are standing in the way of how we communicate. At the end of the day, I don't see these laws protecting the artists anyway. It seems to me that they are ultimately helping companies. And with the way the Internet allows us to communicate, do we really need companies to act as middle men anymore? It is easier than ever to share art, music, film, etc. with the world. Maybe it's time we stop believing that we need the money of companies to achieve our goals. If YouTube has proven anything, it's that the ingenuity and creativity of independent musicians, filmmakers and other artists is strong and alive. And quite possibly, all you need.

So anyway, I'll keep making whatever I feel inspired to create and as long as Blogger doesn't get on my case, you'll still be able to watch, listen to or read whatever I work on right here. Including the more recent two videos that I've posted in the last week. Please, if you enjoy what you see, or read, leave a comment. Unlike YouTube, this site doesn't really allow me to see who's watching and what they think. I'd love to see some dialog here and at the end of the day, that's up to you.

Thanks for reading!