Build to edge of the document Margins are just a safe area
Marcy Burstiner is chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Humboldt State University. She advises students that when they take photos of monkeys, they should make sure they get the monkeys to sign proper waiver forms.
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performers have a right to their own images as copyright law protects performances. It makes sense. You shouldn’t be able to go into a performance of Hamilton or The Book of Mormon and then post that video to YouTube and make money off Google Ads. Copyright protection exists so people who put considerable time, effort and money into creating something can reap the benefits of that creation. Copyright laws are intended to protect the rights of creators and to foster more original creations. While student performers retain the rights to their images, professional performers often don’t. It is the producers of Hamilton and The Book of Mormon who control photos and images of the performances, not the performers. And so at Marineland, the owner of the park owns images of Kiska as she swims through water or flips her tail in the air. Whether orca, human or monkey, she wouldn’t have the right to her own images. But copyright laws are not intended for suppression of journalism. They allow for limited duplication for what’s called “fair use” and educational purposes. That allows people to quote from books or show short clips from movies as commentary. If the courts here or in Canada decide that copyright trumps free press, it would make it hard for journalists to do their jobs, barring them from showing images of wrongs being committed. On the other hand, the Internet makes it harder and harder to control the use of images. Just ask anyone who has been memed. And so maybe the proper response to a SLAPP suit based on copyright is to slap back in a different way. The person who took the questionable footage in the first place could disseminate it as widely, in as many forms and on as many websites, as possible. The suit against Affolter isn’t the only one Marineland has outstanding against animal rights activists. But the aquatic park can’t sue everyone. Photographer David Slater won the suit PETA filed on behalf of Naruto because the courts said he owned the copyright on the monkey selfie. But Google the photo and you will find Naruto’s smiling face all over the place. And that puts a monkey smile on my face. ●
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Hey, beautiful! Yeah, you, Humboldt, lookin’ good! El Nino’s on its way out, the rain jackets are back in the closet and it’s time to enjoy all that good summer sunshine! So which person, place or thing got you through those long rainy months? We want to know.
Here’s how Best of Humboldt works: Round 1! You nominate your favorite person, place or business in each category. Round 2! We do the math and find the top three nominees. Then you vote for your favorite out of those three. So how do we make sure there’s no cheating or robo-voting? You’ll have to make an account and confirm your email, but it’s super quick and easy, we promise! And your email is safe – we won’t save it, sell it or send you invitations to our open mic night. Once your account is up and running, you can nominate and vote once a day. Vote for as many or as little categories as you like, and if you’re a super hardcore voting machine, we’ll have a prize or two for you: Participate in the Nomination round for a chance at $100 of restaurant certificates Participate in the Voting round for a chance at $100 of restaurant certificates
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northcoastjournal.com • NORTH COAST JOURNAL • Thursday, May 26, 2016
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