Week 1/Copyright Issues
The topic of Copyright should always play a part in the
world of a graphic designer. As an instructor of the digital arts, it is my
duty to spread knowledge of copyright law but unfortunately this subject is not
thoroughly discussed with our students.
My school is a non-traditional art school where students
do not have portfolio reviews upon entrance. Students have little to no
knowledge of the art field so many times class projects end up with images from
Google search. Copyright is briefly discussed during their first course within
the GDA program and students are encouraged to explore resources such as the American Institute of Graphics Arts for
ethical standards. During the remaining 11 courses the topic is rarely stressed
or discussed again.
Until viewing the videos, I didn't realize how vague my knowledge
was of copyright laws. The term “Fair Use” has
a new meaning to me. I feel it is my
duty to broaden the 5-second presentation my department utilizes in the
classroom about this subject matter. The video regards Shepard Fairey’s poster
(Obama campaign) will be a great example for my students and will play a part
in my presentation. Designers must take responsibility in maintaining ethical
standards within their practice. After gaining new knowledge on copyrights, I
realized there are benefits and consequences for everything we do as a designer
on both an economic and a social level.
2 comments
Thank you Vivianne for sharing your thoughts of copyright laws in the field of graphic design. I believe that, as educators, we need to fully understand how these laws works. We need to include understanding of the laws, particularly in art courses/classes, because this generation doesn’t automatically know how to create within the copyright borders. They simply believe that if it is on the Internet, they can use it without permission. We need to guide and teach them, just like these videos do, to understand copyright laws. Also it is important to understand that many do come from backgrounds that piracy is normal and done; like in developing nations. By teaching about both sides of the issue, students will have a better understanding of how they can create their work without blocking their creativity.
“We alone can’t change the world all at once, but we can contribute to a change, one step at a time.” -Mavy
Excellent reflection of the importance of having more than a vague notion of what's happening with copyright. It's a moving target, but how are we suppose to improve the situation if we have no appreciation of the problem. The thing that always gets me is that it is part of the process of learning one's craft to copy the masters, in the beginning because we think their things are cool, and then as we get better we move past copying and begin to contribute to making something better, beyond the vision of the original artist. I saw this when my nephew was beginning to draw and all of his characters were straight off the comic pages that he was viewing. The way things are set up, that first step makes all of our learners criminals (unless we pay-off some corporation...), ack. Artists need to be supported and respected, but not on the back of learners and education.
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