For this activity, I obviously chose the blog post rather than create a remix of my own. More specifically, I chose to focus on the utilization of the Star Wars theme opening within “Everything is a Remix Part 1” video. Now, this theme was used to introduce the idea and definition of the word “remix”. “Remix” was at the top in the big, yellow, block, capital letters, while the definition followed in the ascending yellow text. (Ferguson, 2011.00:04-00:10). Classic.
When I dive a little deeper into the background of this video, I am taken to the website, “Everything is a Remix, The site about the Ongoing Video Series”. Here, I found a tab entitled “References” where I found that the creator, Kirby Ferguson, did indeed give credit to the apps or programs used to mash-up the utilized sounds and the other features within his videos as well as references to information supporting his argument.
Having watched the video through and through several times, I did not notice any kind of attribution for the Star Wars theme opening. However, when taking a look at the “Samples” page on his website, I did find that he did give attribution for the font that he had used to mimic the Star Wars themed opening.
Now that I see Ferguson has given attribution for the font, I am curious why he did not give credit to, say, the graphic designer for the Star Wars franchise? Did he not need to? Has he changed it enough to not have to give credit? So I did some digging…
After doing some research as to whether or not the Star Wars opening crawl needed to be credited or not, I found the concept of Fair Use Copyright. Fair Use entails that if one is using copyrighted material for the following reasons, commentary, search engines, criticism, parody, news reporting, research, and scholarship, they are safe to do so without crediting the creator(s)/owner(s) under the Fair Use Copyright Law.
When relating the definition of Fair Use Copyright back to how Kirby used the concept of the Star Wars opening crawl to introduce the idea of a remix for his video, I believe that Kirby did not have to give credit as he parodied it. He did not use the words from the Star Wars opening but only the graphic design to fit his video. Considering the topic of the video is “remix” and demonstrates how original ideas are played off of to create something not completely new, but different, I believe that is exactly what he did, perhaps to demonstrate his point. I wouldn’t consider this a rip off of the original Star Wars opening crawl, but a variation. As Kirby says in Everything is a Remix Part 2, he is essentially appropriating the Star Wars opening crawl and transforming it into something new, something he can use for the purpose of his video series.
To avoid creating a rip-off in general, I believe that all creators need to realize that, even if they believe they have created something completely unique, there is always a possibility that it has stemmed from a preexisting idea. Whether it be the bass line of a song, the graphics for a film or video, etc., it is always good to do your research to see if an idea already exists and cite or give attribution to the source.
Work Cited
Ferguson, Kirby. “Samples.” Everything Is a Remix, http://www.everythingisaremix.info/samples.
Ferguson, Kirby. “Watch.” Everything Is a Remix, http://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series.
“How To Give Attribution.” Creative Commons, creativecommons.org/use-remix/attribution/.
McNair, Kate. “Connected Learning: Fandom and Fair Use” YALSA Blog, 24 June 2014, yalsa.ala.org/blog/tag/2014-ala-annual-conference/.
Ferguson, Kirby. “References.” Everything Is a Remix, http://www.everythingisaremix.info/references.
S, Rachael. “Star Wars: Copyright and Fair Use.” Star Wars: Copyright and Fair Use | DTC 101 -Spring 2013, 12 Feb. 2013,dtc-wsuv.org/wp/dtc101-sp13/2013/02/12/star-wars-copyright-and-fair-use/.
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