Yesterday I was reading Martin Weller’s blog. As per my usual, I peruse many blogs everyday looking for tidbits and gems. In his post, Should universities break copyright law?, he posted a video I hadn’t seen before. It is a remix of an open source documentary on remixing and copyright. Here, take a look.
This is actually a Boing Boing remix of the full documentary. Interesting, yes?
I followed the link trail to Open Source Cinema where the original documentary can be found. The website gives you the tools to create your own videos and remix media. I may start to use the site on a regular basis for some projects here and there. However, that is not what this blog series is about.
The original documentary is broken up into 13 parts. I haven’t watched them yet. My aim is to watch each part and post my thoughts here on edutim. This could work. It could not. We will see.
As some of you know I am a big proponent of open source. Not just open source software, but the idea of freely available content. Free in both meanings of the word. Yes, there is the idea of no monetary cost. That is sometimes true, but tends to devalue the entire idea and reasoning behind “open content.” In my view, the more important meaning is liberty. The rights to use and reuse knowledge, or in the words of this documentary, remix. Hopefully, some of my ideas and thoughts will come out of the woodwork as I watch this movie.
If you want a primer on this entire issue, I highly suggest reading anything by Larry Lessig. I have talked about his genius before and never miss an opportunity to share his thoughts with people. He is one of the brightest minds out there in regards to copyright and technology. Luckily for you there is a great TED Talk by Larry Lessig where he presents some thoughts on how creativity is being strangled by the law.
With that, I will see you next time.
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