Copy-pocrisy?

Copyright has long been one of those really interesting topics for discussion, that quickly turns dead boring as soon as you start looking into the details on the legal side!! As photographers, we’re really good at communicating how we’d individually like copyright to be handled so that our own works are treated right, but terrible at coming up with a useful set of rules that we think should apply to everyone – face it, we live in a world that is dominated by exceptions to the rule, and not the rule itself!!

Since I have a keen interest in music as well, I’ve also had copyright discussions about innocent fun things like mix tapes, and recording your favourite tracks off Video Hits or Rage on a Sunday morning!! So it was with much head nodding that I read this article, talking about the copyright debacle that is Glee.

Interesting conundrum that Mr Murdoch has presented the music, TV, and photography industries – apparently it is OK to make mix tapes, mash them up, lip sync to them (autotune) while being filmed, and sell it to the masses on prime-time TV!! Is Fox making money from this show perhaps?? Guess how many times the word “copyright” is mentioned in the show dialogue??

I’ll admit I have no idea what is going on behind the scenes – but who gets paid for the success of the Glee cover of Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” (which I happen to think is quite a good rendition of the classic) – you can buy it on iTunes (only $2.19, eh?) and watch it on YouTube – and note all the video “inversions”, to beat Sony and copyright if you believe the comments!! Yes, the irony – the show “covers” well known songs with a little mashup, sells the mixes on iTunes and on CD, and at the same time hunts down YouTube uploaders of the original show footage for copyright violations!! Wow!!

There’s money changing hands here somewhere, and I have to wonder if it is really going to the right places!! Thank goodness photography copyright is soooo simple and easy to understand… now, just off to add a music track to my photo slideshows….