Using an example of a song written three generations ago, this video shows why it makes sense that the public domain exists and what it means when a song, photo, artwork, document or other creative work is in the public domain. This video teaches:
The basics of copyright law and how it gives creators control
Why copyrights expire over time
How public domain works are available for use without payment or permission
Why creators and organizations contribute to the public domain
This video hits close to home. Like many of you, we depend on intellectual property laws. They are essential tools for helping creators build their careers and own the work they create.
Unfortunately, the meaning and intent of the laws can be difficult to understand. We made this video to help others understand the basics and why the laws matter.
Here are the highlights:
About This Video
This video follows the story of a creative and talented woman named Candice who plays music, invented a new instrument and created a new business. Using copyright, patent and trademark laws, she learned to how to protect and build a business from her creations. It teaches:
Why intellectual property is different from physical property
The risk of not establishing and protecting ownership
Why copyright law matters in selling and managing your creative works
Why patent law matters in protecting your inventions Why trademark law matters in protecting your brand
How to Use This Video
This video is designed to introduce and explain intellectual property laws in about three minutes. It's designed to get students and up to speed quickly regarding an essential part of creative life.
Boing Boing pointed me to this beautiful animated video by a German studio called "finally". From the description with the video:
Music is a good thing. But what we did not know until we started with the research for this piece: Music is also a pretty damn complex thing. This experimental animation is about the attempt to understand all the parts and bits of it. Have a look. You might agree with our conclusion!
I think this is a great example of an experience that's both remarkable in presentation and interesting in content. I didn't learn the details of resonance or musical temperment. But I came away with little introductory nuggets of each part. I came away with just a bit of motivation to keep learning. Sometimes that's all an explanation needs - a taste of an idea that invites someone to keep learning.
Recently we saw Ira Glass, the host of the popular radio show and podcast This American Life, speak about "Reinventing Radio." One of his first points was about the seriousness of how news and events are usually covered. His show strives to be different - and look for ways to approach news from an original and remarkable perspective.
My first thought was to compare this to education and especially educational videos. So many of them are so very serious. I will teach you this...you are learning this...click here. No fun at all.
We need more fun. We need resources that entertain and educate. Lately I've seen a number of video explanations that use music to present ideas in a truly remarkable way, and that's the big idea in my mind - to make an explanation remarkable.
I wish I could have learned more subjects like this as a young person. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more in the future. Do you have examples? Share them in the comments...
This Week in Love is a series of blog posts where Sachi and I share what we love. Browse the archives and follow @weekinlove on Twitter.
This Week in Love: Shazam's LyricPlay
Over the years, Sachi and I have had an ongoing discussion about song lyrics. In general, Sachi doesn't really care about the lyrics. As long as the melody and rhythm are good, she's happy. While I appreciate those things too, I love knowing the lyrics of songs and often seek them out online. When I share them with Sachi, it usually leads to an "I had no idea!" moment.
I've always wondered why online music players or iTunes don't provide lyrics for every song. Recently we discoverd an almost perfect solution in the free Shazam Player (or the normal Shazam app), which uses a technology called LyricPlay. Lyricplay syncs songs up with lyrics that scroll on phone or tablet screen in a readable and fun format.
This video shows how it works with the normal Shazam app:
A couple of example formats:
Now, I said it's "almost perfect" and here's why. While Shazam says there are over 30,000 tracks with lyrics, we're often left wanting. The free "Shazam Player" app scans the music library on your device and tells you what songs have LyricPlay lyrics. About 40% of the songs in my phone have lyrics currently and Shazam is adding more all the time. The paid Shazam app ($5.99) will detect any song it hears (via speakers in a bar for example) and if there are lyrics, it will provide the LyricPlay option. The paid app is the only one with the ability to detect songs.
Why we love it:
We love this app because it makes listening to music a little like karaoke, with both of us able to sing along. It adds something to the experience. And Sachi gets to see the lyrics, for perhaps the first time ever.
Quick note on our policy regarding products. As always, This Week in Love is not a paid advertisement. We have no connection with the products we love. However, some products we cover may be for sale on websites like Amazon and we may use affiliate links. This means that if you click an Amazon link from this page (for instance), Amazon will know it came from our website and give us a small slice of the purchase price. We'll let you know when this is the case.
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