Online Writing Manifesto

I think that communicating online is a necessity for the day and age that we live in. So many things are done over the Internet. Not having the knowledge to use it puts you in a "Dark Age". People communicate their ideas, feelings, and personal information over the Internet. It is important to communicate online because we can get our beliefs across to other people. This is seen artistically in how people compose music and post it up on the Internet for everyone to use. However, some take other peoples work and transform it into their own. There is a right and wrong way to do this.

I think it is okay to take other artist's music and use bits and pieces to form something of your own. I think the quote in Changing Copyright sums it up pretty well by saying, "However, if the new work is judged to significantly fragment, transform, rearrange, or recompose the appropriated material, and particularly does not use the entire work appropriated from, then it should be seen as a valid fair use."

Artists shouldn't get upset when others take their music and recreate it. As long as they are getting credit where it is due. Personally, I have heard songs that artists of today have taken from songs of previous artists and "remixed" them. So they shouldn't complain. An artist like Weird Al Yankovich does that for a living. His songs are like another artist's but still different and he asks for permission to do it. The quote, "THERE IS NO DEMONSTRABLE NEGATIVE effect on the market value of the original works from which we appropriate or the cultural status or incomes of the artists who made the original works." from Negativland's Tenets of Free Appropriationputs this into perspective.

Another argument that those against fair use have is the fact that those who do create their own works should not get paid for it. I believe that they should. Obviously, these people need to make money too so that they can live normal lives. Weird Al makes money off what he does and why shouldn't he? If the human population is enjoying that person's creativity and are willing to pay for it, they the artist should receive those benefits. It's not like they are hurting the original artist, because they are normally quite wealthy and won't suffer too much. That's why I don't have a problem with downloading free music. I don't plan on stopping anytime soon either.

Basically, those that use others for their own creativity should not be punished for it. I think that this type of thinking can also be applied to people who create blogs and wikis. Personally, I could read someone else's blog and come up with ideas of my own and create a very similar blog, but still different because it has my opinion. The entire idea of Wikipedia is adding your information to the text. It is great when people leave comments on blogs because it gives the writer something to think about. It can also give them more ideas. So I think this Fair Use idea can be greatly useful in anything.