I've asked a teacher about this myself. Here is what I was told:
Unfortunately, teachers can't just use open materials.
When selecting textbooks for the elementary and high school levels, teachers are given a list of board-approved materials, they are not allowed to select materials that do not appear on this list.
There are a number of barriers to entry, including review costs, so getting approval is something that takes effort and financial resources.
Open materials, being non-profit and not for sale, don't have these financial resources needed to break in. No one can just snap their fingers and overhaul the whole system and use non-approved material. Its going to take something big for changes to happen quickly. But a gradual transition to open materials might be possible, but wont be quick.
Canadian here. I'm just thrilled that someone is talking about us.
It always amazed me how we mock the French for their cowardice and military incompetence. How can two wars completely overshadow Napoleon's legacy?
As for Canada's insignificance, need I remind you that our curling team recently won an important tournament.
When I was in school (Before it changed it's name to access copyright) they charged a few cents per page to ensure that all rights were cleared. In practice, we could photocopy whatever the hell we wanted, and it was fine, because we paid the fee to make sure any potential problems would go away. And their might be 3 textbooks that all cover one part really well, and other parts were just ok, so profs could mix and match, giving us just the best, without wasting money on 3 textbooks when one reader would do.
During my first year, a photocopied reader was around $10. by the end of 4th year, it was around $40-$60. The content hadn't changed, we weren't getting 4 to 6 times more value from the textbook. I would be curious to find out if the authors were receiving 4 to 6 times as much in their royalty cheques, because some of my profs were contributors to these readers, and they didn't say they were getting any extra.
In first year, everyone just bought the book, because its easy and cheap enough, it's not worth it to spend an hour in a copy shop to save $2.
By 4th year, I think a psychologacal barrier was reached; spending $40 on B@W photocopies felt like a rip off, its now worth the time to just make it ourself for cheaper. Most students would just buy one reader as a group, then go to a local copy shop, and copy the whole thing for far, far less than the school wanted for it, avoiding the copyright clearance racket entirely.
I think once you publish something, you lose control of it. At worst, you inspire mockery and parody. At best, you become material for future work
No.
At worst, you are ignored.
Mockery and parody are good things. It shows that you have made enough of an impact for someone to respond to your work. That's culture.
As a content creator, I can understand the desire for keeping a tight grip on control, since a few early teasers can greatly influence how later work is perceived, and lies spread so much faster than truth. But I believe there are right ways and wrong ways to do this.
Please forgive me the shameless self promotion that follows:
I'm working on such an art project myself right now, called the "DRM Box" which is an example where control over how the art is seen is extremely important.
The project is elaborate box that sits over a photograph and only lets you view the art after putting in money, promising to give you a minute of view time, but randomly crapping out some time after 30 seconds.
From this kind of a description, I probably sound like a greedy money-grubbing artzy douchebag, and it sounds like something you'd rather not see.
But if it is presented to you under a different tone, (something more like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig31PXn_AfI ) the whole thing seems like a different project. Having some control over the presentation is important for the success or failure of what I'm doing.
The wrong way to control how I set this tone would be write nasty letters to everyone who took me seriously and wrote about this in a dry, humourless way.
The right way (I hope) is to release the tone-setting videos first, then present the objects once that foundation has been set.
In the case of software, if you want to keep it private, then keep it private, don't share it with others. And if someone else is able to replicate what you've done without seeing the source, and they can do this for free, then what you've done can't be all that special and you have no right to complain. And if people start using the other platform and ignoring yours, that's the penalty you pay for locking up culture.
"Nina, isn't it time to move on and make a new movie? You have been milking this one for years."
Could you imagine how terrible it would be if there was some sort of legal mechanism allowing artists to create just one good thing and milk it for the rest of their lives?
Good news...coming out of the American legal system?
Checks the ground...Yep, it's cold. Hell very possibly has frozen over...
(either that or January in Canada are cold, but for now I'll go with the hell-froze-over hypothesis.)
Also: in one of his books, he complains that the synthetic voice has an American accent, but since he's had the robot voice longer than his real voice, he's gotten used to it by now.
"Okay, how do you know you're not ignoring "good content" and "following" what's actually crap if you just knew where the real good stuff was"
"the world just needs good filters, and we keep seeing more and more of those showing up every day. In the music world, there's a ton of new music being produced all the time -- and much of it isn't to my liking. But at the same time I feel like I'm living in renaissance of wonderful music, because I'm able to find fantastic new music all the time via a variety of tools: friends, blogs, Spotify, Turntable.fm, Pandora, and even a few cool (small) record labels who I follow because they release a ton of music I like."
Perhaps your anti-Mike filter is doing a good job of blocking out the relevant bits of his articles.
if you aren't happy with the filters that are currently out there (I'm not), make your own and people will likely flock to it.
"As you are free to own a house, you are free to own an idea."
As you are required to pay property taxes on a house, you are required to pay creativity taxes on your ideas...wait...no you don't....I guess they aren't the same after all.
I personally know several musicians who have been offered contracts and refused to sign, because they were smart enough to read the fine print, do the math, and realize how much better they have it doing it on their own.
If labels want to survive, they need to adapt and become publicity agents and filters. There is far more music out there than I could ever listen to in 10 life-times. How do I find the good stuff? Solve that, and you've got the future of music.
"...photographs are image records of external conditions, ergo they are NOT a creation of the photographer"
As a photographer, and more importantly, as a fan of photography, I can say that this claim is dead-wrong.
Spend 10 minutes looking through some random facebook photo albums, then look through a great photographer's portfolio and tell me there's no difference.
Composition, exposure, aperture, lens selection, colour balance, lighting, posing, etc. all have a significant effect on the final image. Each of these factors involves a creative decision that alters the scene in some way to create the photograph.
Saying a photograph is undeserving of protection is like saying a realistic painting is undeserving of protection, because like a photograph, realism also just an un-manipulated image.
Re:
I've asked a teacher about this myself. Here is what I was told:
Unfortunately, teachers can't just use open materials.
When selecting textbooks for the elementary and high school levels, teachers are given a list of board-approved materials, they are not allowed to select materials that do not appear on this list.
There are a number of barriers to entry, including review costs, so getting approval is something that takes effort and financial resources.
Open materials, being non-profit and not for sale, don't have these financial resources needed to break in. No one can just snap their fingers and overhaul the whole system and use non-approved material. Its going to take something big for changes to happen quickly. But a gradual transition to open materials might be possible, but wont be quick.
(untitled comment)
"I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate"
So, when will Sony face those perjury charges?
Re: Re: An Obvious Thief
If there was no creativity before copyright, how was copyright created?
Re: Re:
Canadian here. I'm just thrilled that someone is talking about us.
It always amazed me how we mock the French for their cowardice and military incompetence. How can two wars completely overshadow Napoleon's legacy?
As for Canada's insignificance, need I remind you that our curling team recently won an important tournament.
When I was in school (Before it changed it's name to access copyright) they charged a few cents per page to ensure that all rights were cleared. In practice, we could photocopy whatever the hell we wanted, and it was fine, because we paid the fee to make sure any potential problems would go away. And their might be 3 textbooks that all cover one part really well, and other parts were just ok, so profs could mix and match, giving us just the best, without wasting money on 3 textbooks when one reader would do.
During my first year, a photocopied reader was around $10. by the end of 4th year, it was around $40-$60. The content hadn't changed, we weren't getting 4 to 6 times more value from the textbook. I would be curious to find out if the authors were receiving 4 to 6 times as much in their royalty cheques, because some of my profs were contributors to these readers, and they didn't say they were getting any extra.
In first year, everyone just bought the book, because its easy and cheap enough, it's not worth it to spend an hour in a copy shop to save $2.
By 4th year, I think a psychologacal barrier was reached; spending $40 on B@W photocopies felt like a rip off, its now worth the time to just make it ourself for cheaper. Most students would just buy one reader as a group, then go to a local copy shop, and copy the whole thing for far, far less than the school wanted for it, avoiding the copyright clearance racket entirely.
Re: Re: Re: zing!
I think it's ok to feed the troll antifreeze.
(untitled comment)
"Treat your customers with respect, and they’ll do the same to you. And that is how you fight piracy."
I show my customers nothing but contempt, and they still don't pirate my stuff.
*sigh*
(untitled comment)
No.
At worst, you are ignored.
Mockery and parody are good things. It shows that you have made enough of an impact for someone to respond to your work. That's culture.
As a content creator, I can understand the desire for keeping a tight grip on control, since a few early teasers can greatly influence how later work is perceived, and lies spread so much faster than truth. But I believe there are right ways and wrong ways to do this.
Please forgive me the shameless self promotion that follows:
I'm working on such an art project myself right now, called the "DRM Box" which is an example where control over how the art is seen is extremely important.
The project is elaborate box that sits over a photograph and only lets you view the art after putting in money, promising to give you a minute of view time, but randomly crapping out some time after 30 seconds.
From this kind of a description, I probably sound like a greedy money-grubbing artzy douchebag, and it sounds like something you'd rather not see.
But if it is presented to you under a different tone, (something more like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig31PXn_AfI ) the whole thing seems like a different project. Having some control over the presentation is important for the success or failure of what I'm doing.
The wrong way to control how I set this tone would be write nasty letters to everyone who took me seriously and wrote about this in a dry, humourless way.
The right way (I hope) is to release the tone-setting videos first, then present the objects once that foundation has been set.
In the case of software, if you want to keep it private, then keep it private, don't share it with others. And if someone else is able to replicate what you've done without seeing the source, and they can do this for free, then what you've done can't be all that special and you have no right to complain. And if people start using the other platform and ignoring yours, that's the penalty you pay for locking up culture.
Re:
"Nina, isn't it time to move on and make a new movie? You have been milking this one for years."
Could you imagine how terrible it would be if there was some sort of legal mechanism allowing artists to create just one good thing and milk it for the rest of their lives?
*shudder*
(untitled comment)
Facing charges? Wouldn't the nagging of two wives be punishment enough. He'll never be hearing the end of this one...
good news on techdirt?
Wait a sec...
Good news...coming out of the American legal system?
Checks the ground...Yep, it's cold. Hell very possibly has frozen over...
(either that or January in Canada are cold, but for now I'll go with the hell-froze-over hypothesis.)
Re: Re: Re: Re:
What?
You expect big media to try profiting off of the hard work of other people, most of whom having no hope of ever being paid?
Re: Is Stephen Hawking robo voice actually his voice?
Nope.
Also: in one of his books, he complains that the synthetic voice has an American accent, but since he's had the robot voice longer than his real voice, he's gotten used to it by now.
(untitled comment)
I wish I had something insightful or heartfelt to add here, but I can't think of anything at the moment. Congratulations on your milestone.
I've struggled to get to 100 posts on my own blog, I don't know HOW anyone could possibly get to 40,000.
Any ideas for marking this milestone? Perhaps printing up a "best of techdirt" anthology - the top 10,000 posts?
Re: Um, yeah. It's all so clear now.
"Okay, how do you know you're not ignoring "good content" and "following" what's actually crap if you just knew where the real good stuff was"
Perhaps your anti-Mike filter is doing a good job of blocking out the relevant bits of his articles.
if you aren't happy with the filters that are currently out there (I'm not), make your own and people will likely flock to it.
Re: Re:
"I think that nintendo truly believes that it's primary user base is aged 8-14"
Nintendo's target market: kids too young to have any disposable income.
Not exactly the greatest business decision if you ask me...
(untitled comment)
"As you are free to own a house, you are free to own an idea."
As you are required to pay property taxes on a house, you are required to pay creativity taxes on your ideas...wait...no you don't....I guess they aren't the same after all.
The Anti TechDirt Approach.
It seems like Warner Bros are going for a bit of an Anti-TechDirt approach on this project:
Disconnect with fans + Reason to buy
Re: Re:
I thought that was the whole point of "plus one". Humans upvote valid content and ignore link-spam.
WE are tweaking the engine.
Re:
Bands are already rejecting labels .
I personally know several musicians who have been offered contracts and refused to sign, because they were smart enough to read the fine print, do the math, and realize how much better they have it doing it on their own.
If labels want to survive, they need to adapt and become publicity agents and filters. There is far more music out there than I could ever listen to in 10 life-times. How do I find the good stuff? Solve that, and you've got the future of music.
Re:
"...photographs are image records of external conditions, ergo they are NOT a creation of the photographer"
As a photographer, and more importantly, as a fan of photography, I can say that this claim is dead-wrong.
Spend 10 minutes looking through some random facebook photo albums, then look through a great photographer's portfolio and tell me there's no difference.
Composition, exposure, aperture, lens selection, colour balance, lighting, posing, etc. all have a significant effect on the final image. Each of these factors involves a creative decision that alters the scene in some way to create the photograph.
Saying a photograph is undeserving of protection is like saying a realistic painting is undeserving of protection, because like a photograph, realism also just an un-manipulated image.