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Fair Use

Page history last edited by Jared Tayco 4 years, 2 months ago

Fair Use Online

 

John D. Thomas

November 5, 2012

https://www.digitalethics.org/essays/fair-use-online

 

"Life Ain't Fair, But There Is Fair Use"

First Impression:

Fair use is something I can rarely believe in my life nowadays: after all, I think there's no such thing nowadays, especially with the carelessness, stress, and complications regarding in the use of technology and the Internet these days.

 

Quote: 

"Boiled down to its basics, fair use, to a digital journalist, means that you are free to use samples and snippets of content from other sources if you are writing in an editorial fashion directly about that actual content (e.g., quoting from an incendiary op ed you don't agree with, and writing about it on your blog)."

 

Reflection Proper:

Fair use, as defined by John D. Thomas in his essay, means, in the digital journalist's dictionary, the freedom to use information and content from other sources in one's works such as editorials directly about that actual content, but in the way of treating those sources with respect via linking directly to the original content used. In other words, this is the sort of thing being taught in school in order to avoid plagiarism and stealing other's work and claiming it as their own; not to mention this is what they call proper etiquette when it comes to specific things involving third-party content like APA in-text citations and references in research papers or any type of homework online or printed. Doing those things like writing references to the original work onto one's research paper, rewording it and paraphrasing it to avoid plagiarism, and doing in-text citations, is proper and not to mention does define fair use in one way, but as I found out via the essay that during the days of when the Internet was just a kid, even if it was common for people to use the full text of someone else's content but credit the source, which was considered fair, and since views can automatically be presumed to be profit opportunities, it doesn't necessarily mean that one is treating others' work fairly just because he or she is promoting someone who wrote or created something. For instance, in videos, say you're doing a news portion of opinion about a specific video clip, and thus its' fair use to get such a clip to illustrate a certain point, but it may have consequences like if certain media studios like Fox Network or Marvel Studios finds you using a clip of their work, even if being used in an editorial context, you might end up in legal trouble; in images, for instance, some newspapers or websites like the Daily Beast employ fair use via aggregation as a business strategy --- in the subject of images, they don't "borrow" images from their references used in their stories, but instead they publish and properly credit the images chosen, and most probably pay the rights in using those images. So, based on this information, I agree that people should be really asking this question: is fair use fair? And frankly, the answer does depends on the one answering it, and let's face facts: copying content that is shown out in the open is really easy to find and prevent, but works that involve "careful and calculated summarizing and linking" is really questionable for making a judgement.

5 Things Learned From Article: 

 

  1. I learned about the meaning of fair use online.

  2. I learned about the fact that fair use has become a topic that caused complications and irrational stress when it comes to the subject of online re-use of third-party content.

  3. I learned about fair use as a concept being used via aggregation as a business strategy in some websites.

  4. I learned that in knowing if fair use is truly fair, it depends on the person you are telling the question to.

  5. I learned that in fair use: open and widely-seen content copy-and-paste is easy to spot and prevent, but when it comes to careful and calculated summarizing and linking, that's going to be quite the conundrum to make a judgement about.

 

 

 

5 Integrative Questions:

 

  1. Do you ever give respect to other people's work especially if your work involves using information from other sources?

  2. Do you think fair use is fair, and why?

  3. Why do you think just because one promotes someone who wrote or created something online in a prominent fashion, it doesn't exactly mean he or she is treating the promoted people's work fairly?

  4.  What suggestions can you give to further promote true fair use online to the populace?

  5. Do you ever use proper etiquette in writing online or offline articles of any kind like using in-text citations? 

 

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