Blog Reflection 7

 This Friday the topic of Intellectual Property was discussed. I learned a few things that I was not already aware of. The first thing that I learned, and found rather interesting, was how long copyrights last. A copyright lasts for the life of the creator plus 70 years. It makes me think about some recent artists who have passed away. I wonder what will become of the music of Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson in 70 years when the copyrights on their music are expired.

I also learned that there are two types of copyrights for music. The copyright "c" covers the music itself and also the lyrics. The copyright "p" covers the recordings of the music. I was unaware of the fact that there were separate copyrights for each of these aspects. I thought one copyright covered all of the music.

I also learned about fair use. I know now the conditions under which fair use can be argued are education, parody, research, criticism, and news reporting. I also learned that fair use cannot be utilized proactively, it is a defense against a lawsuit. Fair use does not prevent lawsuits from happening.

The final thing I learned was about creative commons licenses. These licenses allow the creator to decide what rights to give to the consumer. With certain creative commons licenses the consumer can use the work, but give credit to the creator. With others, the work can be used for nonprofit reasons.