From the OA Librarian comes this useful link to the 2-minute Author’s Rights Video by the Association of Research Libraries. The film explains clearly and succinctly what scholars can do to make sure they retain the rights to use and share their work.
Film
The Treasure of Sierra Madre
Watching the bar room fight scene in The Treasure of Sierra Madre and it is the most unrealistic fight scene I have ever seen. The film is a classic black & white with Humphrey Bogart and it shows how greed will change people and make them betray their friends and their ideals. The film is also the origin of the great quote: Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!
I wouldn't steal
The European Green Parties have begun a counter-attack on media propaganda. Most media companies claim that if you download a film you are just as likely to steal a handbag, break into a car or shoplift. These are ridiculous claims but somebody needed to say this out loud.
So enter the Greens! With their short film and their website they are making the fundamental and important point that making a copy is fundamentally different from stealing.
The media industry has failed to offer viable legal alternatives and they will fail to convince consumers that sharing equals stealing. Unfortunately, they have succeeded in another area – lobbying to adapt laws to criminalize sharing, turning consumers into criminals. They argue that their laws are necessary to [support artists], but in reality all they’re protecting is their own profits.
The Greens in Europe and worldwide has been opposing these laws. We believe that consumers are willing to pay if offered good quality at a fair price. We also believe that sharing is expanding culture – not killing it.
To protest against the faulty propaganda from the industry, we made our own film. The difference is – you can choose whether you want to watch this one.
Check out the I wouldn’t steal website and watch the film on YouTube or download it as a torrent. Oh and the movie is licensed under Creative Commons (by-nc) so you can even make your own remix version – try doing that legally with the industry propaganda.
Steal This Film II
Copyright never was what it used to be and the struggle to define the purpose and limits over the protection of intellectual property (or indeed the idea of intellectual property) continues daily.
One example of the ongoing debate is an op-ed in the Swedish paper Expressen a group of Swedish politicians called for the legalization of file sharing. One of the politicians was a police officer. But this is more an example of the exception than the rule.
The real attempt to draw the lines that may limit copyright occur every day and are defined in the way in which we all collectively use our technology. The act of file sharing by an individual is, in of itself, an unimportant act. Taken collectively file sharing is a massive active form of resistance and a re-interpretation of the the general consciousness of justice, right, wrong & morality.
Another important position is taken by those who actively comment and interpret the acts of all those involved in the re-definition of copyright. An important contribution to this is the film Steal this Film II. It features scholars such as Yochai Benkler, Felix Stalder, Siva Vaidhyanathan, and Howard Rheingold and portrays file sharing and the copyright debate as a historical development in the urge to regulate the spread of information.
Over at the Industrial IT Group blog Jonny has written a very good analysis of the importance of the film. Watch the movie, read the analysis and get involved in the most interesting re-defition of law in our time.
The Story of Stuff
Don’t you just love it when you find cool stuff online? When you find something that someone has worked on to create and perfect so that others can enjoy? I do.
The film The Story of Stuff attempts to educate consumers about the costs of all or stuff. Or as the question of the film is poed in the begining of the movie – how can it be that a radio can cost as little as 4.99?
The online blurb explains:
From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.
I am particularly fond of the quote: “You cannot run a linear system on a finite planet indefinitely”.
So go to the site watch the movie, download the movie (its CC licensed) listen and learn. How can our stuff cost next to nothing…
Students and Technology
Remember Michael Wesch? He created the excellent video The Machine is Us/ing Us about web2.0. Its message: The Machine is us was very nicely argued. Prof Wesch is back again with another video, A Vision of Students Today, about the student life today. Mainly (but not only) about the relationship between teaching and technology.
The students surveyed themselves and this resulted in the following statements – but don’t stop here – the film is very much worth watching both for its message and presentation. Here are some of the statements which arise from the survey:
- I complete 49% of readings assigned to me
- I will read 8 books this year, 2300 web pages & 1281 facebook profiles
- I facebook through most of my classes
The film contains two important quotes – the first my McLuhan (1967)
Today’s child is bewildered when he enters the 19th century environment that still characterizes the educational establishment where information is scarce but ordered and structured by fragmented, classified patterns subjects and schedules.
and the second from 1841 when Josiah F. Bumstead said about the inventor of the blackboard:
The inventor of the system deserves to be ranked among the best contributors to learning science, if not the greatest benefactors of mankind.
Don’t make the mistake of interpreting Wesch as a luddite. It is very important to be able to criticize technology. The amazing thing is that we are allowed to criticize cars without being accused of luddism but if you are critical towards IT you stand accused of wanting to return to the stone age.
Wesch is making an important point that teaching should be more relevant and less dependent upon technology. Simply adding technology, or supplying it to students, does not improve teaching, learning or education.
Prof Wesch Digital Ethnography Blog
Oh, and while you are there check out their Information R/evolution video.
The meaning of work
Taking the early, early train to Lund so I decided to treat myself to a movie so I saw Clerks (1994). I hadn’t seen it for a long time and I had forgotten how great the movie was. It’s basically about a day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they annoy customers, discuss movies and the meaning of life. It’s all very low key, filmed in black & white and with an awesome dialogue.
Here are some of the highlights:
Randal: Some guy came into the store refusing to pay late fees. Said the store was closed for two hours yesterday. I tore up his membership.
Dante: Shocking abuse of authority.
Randal: Hey, I’m a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule.Customer: It’s important to have a job that makes a difference, boys. That’s why I manually masturbate caged animals for artificial insemination.
Jay’s Lady Friend: He only speaks Russian?
Jay: Naw, he speaks some English, but he can’t not speak it good like we do.Randal: Fine then, just let me borrow your car.
Dante: What for?
Randal: I want to go rent a movie. What was that?
Dante: You work at a video store!
Randal: I work at a shitty video store! I want to go to a good video store and get a good movie!Dante: A word of advice, my friend. Sometimes you gotta let those hard-to-reach chips go.
Dante: You hate people!
Randal: But I love gatherings. Isn’t it ironic?Dante: I’m not the kind of person who will disrupt things so that I can shit comfortably.
Caitlin Bree: Can I use the bathroom?
Randal: Sure, but there’s no light back there.
Caitlin Bree: Why aren’t there any lights?
Randal: Well, there are, but for some reason they stop working at 5:14 every night. Nobody can figure it out. And the boss doesn’t want to pay the electrician to fix it, because the electrician owes money to the video store.
Caitlin Bree: Such a sordid state of affairs.
Randal: And I’m caught right in the middle – torn between my loyalty to the boss and my desire to piss with the lights on.Coroner: My only question is how did she come to have sex with the dead guy?
Dante: She thought it was me.
Coroner: What kind of convenience store do you run here?Randal: Duh duh… duh duh… duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh… Salsa shark! We’re gonna need a bigger boat! Man goes into cage, cage goes into salsa. Shark’s in the salsa. Our shark.
Silent Bob: You know, there’s a million fine looking women in the world, dude. But they don’t all bring you lasagna at work. Most of ’em just cheat on you.
Actually I had not planned to watch the whole movie – I was going to work on the train but I really got sucked in. Anyway I will be arriving in about ten minutes so its time to pack up and head to the office for another day at work 🙂
100 best films
The American Film Institute is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year and has presented the 100 greatest films of all time. It was ten years ago since the last such list was made.
The top ten are best films are Citizen Kane (still first on the list since the last list was made) followed by The Godfather – Casablanca – Raging Bull – Singing in the Rain – Gone with the Wind – Lawrence of Arabia – Schindler’s List – Vertigo and The Wizard of Oz.
Surprises on the list? Well E.T. (nr 24) beats Apocalypse Now (nr 30) and Titanic is on the list (at nr 83).
The bottom ten of the hundred are Sophie’s Choice – Goodfellas – The French Connection – Pulp Fiction – The Last Picture Show – Do the right thing – Blade Runner – Yankee Doodle Dandy – Toy Story – Ben Hur.
(via Humaniorabloggen)
Open Source Cinema
Open Source Cinema is a collaborative documentary project to create a feature film about copyright in the digital age.
Several years ago, I began researching the intersection of culture and creativity – exploring how in the digital age, everything we know about copyright has been turned upside down. From mash-ups to filesharing, creation to distribution, everything is in flux.
This all came in to sharp relief when I attended the MGM vs Grokster oral argument in 2005. Outside, the music industry and file-sharing supporters alike protested in large numbers. One music industry veteran declared â??music is like a donut. Pay for the donut, you get to eat itâ??. Meanwhile, a 16 kid told me â??I donâ??t think you can own music – its just feelings. How can you own that?â?? So whoâ??s right? Is culture a product? Will the next generation ever settle for anything less than free? Thats what I want to explore in this documentary, which is tentatively titled Basement Tapes.
For more information about The Film – check out the WikiFilm.
For more information about the philosophy of the project, check out the Maninfesto
Academy Award Film under CC
A Story of Healing a film from 1997 has just been re-released under a Creative Commons license. This makes it the first academy award winning film to be released under the Creative Commons license.
About the film from IMDB:
In January, 1997, a team of five nurses, four anesthesiologists, and three plastic surgeons arrive in Vietnam from the United States for two weeks’ of volunteer work. They operate on 110 children who have various birth defects and injuries. They also talk to the film crew about why they’ve made this trip and what it means to them. We watch them work, and we see the children, their families, and their surroundings in the Mekong Delta. Over the closing credits, Dionne Warwick sings Bacharach and David’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love.”
To view A Story of Healing visit the Interplast website. The film is also downloadable from blip.tv, and wherever you share it!
(via Creative Commons blog)