Comments for Debbie Pastel-MAC Week 1 Reading

Debbie, I am happy to study the copyright law as well. I absolutely love this stuff, and am very excited about diving into the information.  I remember watching "Eyes on the Prize" in high school. It was a documentary which aired on PBS.  If my memory serves me correctly, it was a Social Studies assignment. We all had to watch the five-part series and complete a paper about what was learned. Now of course I live in Alabama, and only 56 miles from Birmingham and about 140 miles from Montgomery. That said, this area was a hotbed when the series originally aired.  The problem is that now I have a daughter, who is growing up in the same area, but will not be exposed to such an important part of her personal history. We still have family members and friends who were involved in the movement.  It is a real shame that an entire generation will be rob of these important views of our past.

Original post from Debbie:

MAC: Week 1, Reading: Copyright Issues, The Fog Clears

I am excited about this class and glad that we are covering copyright in depth. We have hit on this topic briefly in the program, but it was never truly defined resulting in mixed results with my cohorts’ projects. I have just tried to keep it simple and I limited myself with Microsoft Office clip art because that usage seemed clear to me. Having watched the videos, the fog has cleared and I have a much better grasp of the entire copyright issue.

What I find most interesting and potentially frightful is the cultural impact that Copyright and Fair Use might have on society. I was concerned and upset about the explanation of the use of the Martin Luther King Jr. documentary, “Eyes on the Prize”; that it has been prohibited to be shown or preserved because of copyright laws and some people want to make a profit off of it. I agree with the commentators that this eventually comes down to censorship of history by making it private property. Individuals that want to make a profit cannot bind history, the greater good and evolution of a society depends on freedom of expression and the writing of histories’ stories. I am glad that there are groups that are fighting to preserve the rights of people to express themselves and make documentaries, thus improving our democracy.

I went to YouTube and found out that the clip we watched is old and it is on DVD and has been aired on PBS. I know that I have two of the DVD’s that are pictured in the film. I also went to Amazon, but the price is about $400.00 for the DVD. The film is available, but still out of reach. The debate continues and people persevere fighting the fights for making history accessible.

Sources: Microsoft Office Clip Art, MP900427695jpg: Eyes on the Fair Use of the Prize, YouTube, Uploaded by mediathatmatters on May 4, 2007