Week 3: Who's Bad?

Inspired by a colleague... in more ways than one!



The above mash-up was created by the very talented Mr. Abram Siegel. Quite obviously a labor of love, this mash-up is a perfect example of remix culture done right... by which, I mean, done "fairly."

At first glance, you might be thinking to yourself - "oh my, he's committed a gazillion copyright violations... I hope he has a good lawyer." However, according to the Center for Social Media's Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video, not only is Mr. Siegel not in violation of any copyright laws, he is furthering the cause of and his right to fair use.

Based on the best practices outlined in the document referenced above, Mr. Siegel's brilliant mash-up invokes fair use under the following criterion:

1) As an example of reproducing content in order to memorialize one of the greatest artists of our time;

2) As a catalyst for a discussion on fair use best practices; and

3) As a remix of copyrighted elements combined to create an entirely new work.

Bravo Mr. Siegel for a well-executed and well-timed contribution to the class discussion!

PS. Can you tell that's MJ's famous "Beat It" jacket on my t-shirt?!?

Sources:

Center for Social Media. (2008, June). Code of best practices in fair use for online video. Retrieved July 20, 2009, http://web.me.com/edm613/media/online_best_practices_in_fair_use.pdf

Siegel, A. (2009.) Michael Jackson mash-up tribute. Retrieved July 20, 2009, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8govZkEZaC0&feature=player_embedded

Image Credit: Photograph taken by Emily Wray.