Wednesday 6/13

Movies, Mashups, and Copyright

The internet is a great tool for sharing content of all kinds-- and videos are one of the most popular! Sites like YouTube and Vimeo provide a platform for people to share ideas using this dynamic medium. But to take part in this, you have to be able to create your own videos!

The concepts of filmmaking from scratch are well beyond the parameters of this course; however, using some simple tools and techniques, you can quickly learn to create a mash-up of existing media, and use it to get your message across. A mash-up or remix uses photos, sounds, text, and video from existing sources in a new, surprising, and interesting way.

(For some more in-depth reading/videos about remixing and remix culture, see these links:
http://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remix_culture )

In this short unit, you'll be introduced to the concept of copyright, fair use, and licensing of media sources, as well as learning where to find media resources, and how to use video-editing tools to create your own short mashup.

What is Copyright?

Since a remix or mashup is based on using existing works to create something new, we need to think about where these resources come from, and also, who owns them?

The big term you've heard of in this context is Copyright. Copyright is a legal protection automatically provided to people who make original work. This protection allows the creator to control how it is distributed-- that is, who has the right to make a copy.

For a great short summary of this large topic, see:
http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/copyright-faq

For our purposes, that is, making a remix using other people's creative works, we need to think about who has the copyright, and also, whether we are allowed to use it in our own work. Broadly, we can be allowed to use a copyrighted work in a couple of ways: through licensing (that is, getting explicit permission) and fair use, that is, by using the work in ways that are protected by your personal rights to free expression, even if you don't have explicit permission.

Further reading:

For a good glossary of copyright terms, see:
http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/glossary

If you are really interested in the devlopement of Copyright law in the US, this timeline provides an excellent overview:
http://www.arl.org/pp/ppcopyright/copyresources/copytimeline.shtml

What is Fair Use?

Fair Use is a principle that limits copyright-- it is a middle-way between the exclusive right of the creator of a copyrighted work to control it and the First Amendment rights to free expression that each individual holds. In effect, this means, that in certain instances, you are legally allowed to use copyrighted works for your own purposes, e.g. a remix.

Please take a look at this excellent summary of the principle of Fair Use, which includes some guidance about when fair use applies:

http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/fair-use-faq

Next, let's take a look at a short video from the Center for Social Media at American University that describes fair use in more detail.

Fair Use

Check out the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video from the Center for Social Media at American University.

From: http://centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use/related-materials/codes/code-best-practices-fair-use-online-video

What is Creative Commons?

Fair Use is actually a very complex topic. It can be tricky to know whether your intended use falls under "fair use". However, sometimes copyright holders want you to use their works! Under normal rules, if your use of a copyrighted work doesn't fall under fair use, you have to get permission from the copyright holder. (This permission is often called a "license". For example, when you hear a popular song in a movie, the director of that film "licensed" that song from the musician, usually agreeing to pay them some money for the privilege of using the song.) But it would be a real hassle for every photographer, musician, or artist who were OK with you remixing their work to have to respond to permission requests, especially if they want to share their work widely.

For this reason, the licensing structure called "Creative Commons" was created. A Creative Commons licensed work automatically gives you permission to use it in certain ways. In short, if you use a Creative Commons licensed work, you know that you have permission!

For more information about this type of license see:

http://creativecommons.org/about

Now, let's take a look at a short video about Creative Commons licenses.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licenses: Find out more at http://creativecommons.org/

NOTE: This video was made in New Zealand, and so it references some New Zealand specific links. The Creative Commons license, however, is used all over the world, including the US.

What is the Public Domain?

Copyright doesn't last forever. Some older works that were under copyright previously, and some works, for example those created by the U.S. Federal Government, are now in the Public Domain-- which means that there is no restriction on their use. In effect, no one owns the copyright, so anyone can do what they'd like with the work.

Take a look at the following short summary of the Public Domain:

http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/public-domain-faq

What this means for you is, if you find a work that is in the Public Domain, you know you can use it freely, without restrictions-- it is public because it belongs to everyone.

Copyright: In Summary

In summary, in order to remix media you find online, to use them in presentations, websites, or videos you create, you'll need to pay attention to copyright. For purposes of this course, I'd like you to stick to finding and using resources that are either Creative Commons or Public Domain licensed. That way, you know you can use the media!

For the assignment for this unit, you'll be creating a movie using media elements you find online-- a large list of resources are provided to you in the Assignment document. Some examples are here-- all of these sources provide only CC or Public Domain media, so using these sites helps you to find what you need quickly and easily, and not have to worry about copyright.

Music and Sound Effects
http://ccmixter.org -- Music and Soundtracks
http://soundbible.com -- Sound Effects

Images
http://compfight.com (search by Creative Commons – Reuse License)

Video
http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger (The Prelinger Archives contains old commericals, documentaries, and newreels)

Downloading Resources for Your Movie

Attached Files:	moviemaker-1-downloadingresources.html (4.565 KB)

When you begin to compile resources for your movie, keep in mind three important things:

Make sure you are finding resources that are appropriately licensed, or that you are sure you can re-use. You can always use public domain or creative commons licensed materials, so those are always good choices.
Always make a note of your source-- in general, the more info the better, but at the very minimum, make a note of the URL that you got your media from, and the author name/username. The idea behind keeping a source is so that anyone who views your movie will be able to find/use the materials you did. Do this when you download the media, even if you aren't sure if you'll use it. It is VERY hard to find sources for images/videos after the fact, but VERY EASY to mark them down when you find them.
Be aware of the type of files your movie program can work with:
- Images: most standard image types (jpg, gif, png, bmp) will work, so you are unlikely to find a still image type that you won't be able to use with your movie creating program.
- Sounds: your safest bet is MP3 or WAV format. Luckily, these are also the most common formats, so you shouldn't run into too much trouble here, either. MP3 are generally longer sounds, like songs or recorded lectures. WAVs are usually shorter, like sound effects.
- Video: there are a LOT of video formats, and many of them will not be compatible with your movie program, no matter which one you use! For Windows Live Movie Maker (and iMovie too), you should look for MP4 or MPEG-4 format videos. This is a very common format, luckily. Windows Live Movie Maker will also accept WMV videos, and iMovie will accepts MOV (QuickTime) videos, but these are not as common.

Regardless of the media type, to use them in a movie you will need to download them to your computer first. Some sites provide a download link that will allow you to save a file. Wither others, especially images, you may need to right-click on the link and choose "Save As...", "Save Target As...", or "Save Link As..." in order to save the file.

Click on the link above to see a demonstration of saving multimedia files from various sites, and of one method for keeping track of media sources.

Windows Live Movie Maker Tutorials

Download Link to download to your own (Windows 7/Vista) Computer:

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker-get-started

Movie Maker Online Help:

Movie Maker Intro: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker
Import Photos and Video: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker-import-photos-videos-using
Try An Auto Movie: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker-auto-movie-themes-using
Edit the Video: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker-video-editing-using
Edit the Audio: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker-audio-editing-using
Share Online: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker-share-online-using

Microsoft Tutorials:

Video Editing 101 from Vimeo:

Supported File Types in Windows Movie Maker:
http://windowslivehelp.com/solution.aspx?solutionid=8580364e-d1e8-4f4b-892d-5360f01898e4

Creating and Saving a Movie in Windows Live Movie Maker

Attached Files:	moviemaker-2-creatiingsavingmovie.html (4.565 KB)

Click above for a short demonstration of creating and saving a movie in Windows Live Movie Maker.

Please make a note of one very important distinction: when you save a PROJECT in Windows Live Movie Maker, you are saving a skeleton file that describes your movie by referencing file names on the computer on which you are working. It is really just a text file that says "Show this image for 5 seconds, then show this video clip, with this title on it, for 10 seconds, then show this video clip with a blur effect for 15 seconds, etc." Think of this as your movie's script. The project file will only work on the computer you use to create your movie. The project file is useful for you to return and edit your movie-- but if you just send someone the script, they won't be able to watch your movie at all!

When your movie is finished, click on Save Movie -- this will save your movie as a single WMV video file. This single video file (which may be quite large) is what you can share with others-- either by emailing it or uploading it to YouTube.

In short-- when you want to share your movie, use Save Movie!

iMovie Tutorials

Since I know there are some Mac users in the group, if you'd like you can complete the Movie assignment using iMovie instead of Windows Live Movie maker. Below are some tutorials on doing basic video editing with iMovie.

Upload your Movie to YouTube

Attached Files:	moviemaker-3-uploadingtoyoutube.html (4.556 KB)

Once you've completed your movie, you can upload it to YouTube quite easily. The video above shows your a short demonstration of how to upload your finished video to YouTube. To begin, go to http://www.youtube.com and click on the "Upload" link in the top right corner of the page. If you are asked to sign in, use your Google username and password (YouTube is owned by Google!).

For a more detailed walkthrough of this process, check out this video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLDjiFSCSVE

Ready for Assignment 16!

Now that you've learned a bit about copyright and the Creative Commons, and have taken a closer look at working with Windows Live Movie Maker, you're ready for Assignment 16!