copyright infringements!!

on Monday, September 21, 2009
I'm hoping I just happened to pick two bad examples, but the two videos I chose to watch both infringed on copyright laws.

The first, We Didn't Start the Fire, basically has video and pictures to go along with Billy Joel's song by the same name. While it was interesting to see pictures of the actual historical events, none of the pictures were credited, nor was the song itself. Since the pictures were older, and of important historical events, I'm sure it would be possible to find pictures that were ok to use for a project like this, but the video doesn't state where the creator found any of the pictures or video. I think the biggest issue is the use of the song without any credit.

The second video, Classroom Rules, had the same issue. It used more than the allowed 30 seconds of Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby." Other than that it's just him rapping his own words to the song and dancing ridiculously, which while not pretty, isn't against any laws.

On a side note, I second Ashlee's comment that it will be a very bleak day when I rap to my students. Really, no one wants to see me rap. It would be ugly.