Class 9: Culture Creators
Watch: This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
Reading:
1) Higgins, John M. “MPAA Cuts Deal with BitTorrent.” Broadcasting & Cable. 135.50 (2005): 31-34. Print.
2) Imfeld, Cassandra. “PLAYING FAIR WITH FAIR USE? THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT’S IMPACT ON ENCRYPTION RESEARCHERS AND ACADEMICIANS.” Communication Law and Policy. 111.144 (2003): 122-136. Print.
My next week looks into the hegemonic rule that so called “culture creators” hold. I wanted to contrast RiP!: A Remix Manifesto’s philosophy about free media with the current role that organizations such as the MPAA and RIAA have in enforcing laws and lobbying for harsher penalties. The documentary for this week, This Film is Not Yet Rated (2006), takes a look at the voluntary rating system that the MPAA controls and how this is actually a form of censorship that is controlled by private interests. The first reading by Higgins is a short article outlining how the MPAA has worked with the creator of BitTorrent to remove links to Hollywood films from the search engine on the BitTorrent homepage. I felt that this article would show just how far the MPAA’s power extends. The next article, by Imfeld, covers the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and some of the legal problems that this is causing in the United States and I would have my students read the excerpt about research and “fair use”. It also shows how the revised copyright has negative implications for academics. The article shows some of the results of the MPAA’s push for more control over media and how this ends up limiting academic’s ability to reference copyrighted works. I feel this is a big problem with the copyright act and it exemplifies some of the types of problems that arise when too much power is given to a group that represents a corporate interest.
Edited: February 1st, 2010