Copyright Laws

In the digital age, copyright laws face a whole new set of problems.  With the internet making the ability to obtain information so much easier, it also makes it much harder to control who has the ability to redistribute said information.  Copyright laws are broken almost as often as traffic laws, and in that kind of environment people begin to question how the artists creating the material stand to make any money as technology progresses.

Some artists have put trust into their fans to solve this issue.  Instead of attempting to restrict access to their art even further, bands like Radiohead and Issa leave their music open to download, relying on the concept that the more exposure they have, the more they'll make on tour and from other ventures.  This has worked surprisingly well for them -- it seems as though people are indeed willing to pay for the material of artists who they respect, despite the fact that they aren't required to.

The idea of copyright infringement also brings back the question of where the line between stealing and inspiration lies.  Many "remix artists" configure parts of copyrighted media into new forms, creating their own works of art.  If these laws should become stricter and better enforced, should remixes of material also be banned?  This seems like it would be a great loss of good art for the world to endure.

New Media and the Digital Age

With the ease of gathering information that goes along with the digital age in which we live, there also comes a high degree of theft and plagiarism.  Content is so easily accessible through the internet that it has become near impossible to protect anything from becoming 100% public.   However, when it comes to creative ideas and innovations many argue that this ease of content is not always a bad thing.  To be inspired by the plethora of information and media that exists online is a benefit that our generation has over others.  And although in modern times the fear of plagiarism has increased tenfold, there are many instances before the digital age in which authors or musicians would be highly influenced by, either intentionally or unintentionally by another person's work.  There are only so many ideas, plot lines, musical harmonies, etc, that can be created, and everything after that could potentially be seen as mimicking the original.  Digital media by no means created plagiarism, despite the fact that it has made it significantly easier.  The real question is whether or not this is a bad thing.  Where is the line between inspiration and theft?

Project Breif

In learning about the Montagnards, a topic that continually strikes me as intriguing is the idea of their persecution.  In a world that constantly preaches of equality and justice it becomes mind-boggling to hear about the violence and prejudice that rules certain communities throughout the world.  I am eager to investigate the Montagnards' situation further to try to uncover original key events that turned others against them, the type of persecution that occurred, and what has been done to attempt to restore peace in the region. 

Almost anyone from the Montagnard community would probably be able to assist me with my goal, whether it be through stories of their personal experience or information gathered by simply being part of the Montagnard community.  It would be great to find out what were key motivating factors to leave the homeland -- whether it was simply fear of persecution, or whether they themselves escaped from dangerous situations.


As an artist I feel like issues like this naturally strike me in a more powerful way than others.  As a lot of my time and energy is spent attempting to effect the minds of other people through the use of creative medium,  learning about things that are going on in the world that I disagree with provokes the sense that perhaps there is something I could do to try to change it.  This may sound crazy since I'm not a politician or anyone of any legitimate power to change the world, but artistic influence can be a power in and of itself.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."  -- Dr. Seuss

 

In my minimal research thus far about the Montagnard people I have found several pieces of documentation about the persecution they have faced.   One resource that has been quite valuable is the website for the Montagnard Foundation whose goal is to attempt to restore the rights of the Degar people in the highland region.  With a single visit to their homepage, one can see many accounts of the persecution still going on today, primarily based upon religious orientation.

Framing

The concept of "framing," though it sounds rather foreign, is applicable to everyone.  It is equivalent to the context in which something is veiwed, or having a certain perspective, if you will.  Everyone frames their experiences based on other things in their lives, but it is done so quickly and effortlessly that people don't notice they're categorizing their lives.

If acknowledged, people can definitely use framing to their advantage -- either in changing the way they themselves frame things in order to be more positive, or by using how others frame things to their advantage.  The PBS Frontline program, "The Persuaders" discusses the ways in which advertisment companies manipulate veiwers by assessing how they think and creating adds that most successfully persuade consumers to purchase a product.  Instead of just saying, "buy this product" most ads target moral or emotional facets of the veiwer's mind, causing them to associate the positive of that moral or emotion with purchasing a product.

It is useful to be aware of framing in any occupation, but I believe it is especially relevant to a life in the arts.  To be successful in conveying a theme or emotion, it is pertinent that the artist undertstands how people think -- how different words, objects, and colors interact with one another and can create a story.