Tag Archives: Own

Week 9 – OWN

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A) What do you see as the positives and negatives around copyright?

As Wilhelm Schnotz says, in an ideal world, no one would use your materials without your consent, or attempt to make money by peddling intellectual property they didn’t own. This is not an ideal world, but copyright laws help people and companies protect their work. I think that a strong point of copyright laws is that it automatically extends to all creative works as soon as you publish them. Also, copyright gives the creator of a piece of intellectual property the sole right to produce and reproduce their work as well as authorize it (John Oman). You, as a creator, get protection, copyright preventing your work from being stolen or misused by others. Last but not least, I believe that the fact that the copyright has a limited time only is a good thing because after that period, your work can be shared in the public domain and people can feel free to use it for creating new pieces of work.

Although copyright law grants protections and rights to copyright holders, the system is far from perfect (Wilhelm Schnotz). I believe that copyrights key advantage is also its primary disadvantage. The inability to share it is a weak point – people cannot use your work or distribute it, even if they are not doing it for profit. This can mean that your work is disseminated slowly or not at all. Furthermore, authorship is not ownership (Kelley Keller). Being the creator of the work does not always guarantee ownership. Another negative thing about copyright is that it can be expensive for some small companies. For example, legal representation may be needed in some cases and small copyright owners might have difficulty affording long-term representation. Lastly, I think that copyright can sometimes be confusing and ambiguous, as well as time consuming.

B) Give some examples where you see games being clearly influenced by other work?

Living in the internet era, I think that it is much easier to find inspiration and do your research. Game designers take inspiration from everything that surrounds them. For instance, the famous M.C. Escher inspired many artists. In The Bridge, we can see the influence of his Day and Night drawing. Also, critics compared the Monument Valley’s visual style to a vibrant Escher drawing (Liz Stinson).

M. C. Escher – Day and Night, 1938

The Bridge, 2013

                       

                       

M. C. Escher – Belvedere, 1958 & Waterfall, 1961 vs Monument Valley, 2014

The influence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work upon Final Fantasy is clear the farther back you look. The first Final Fantasy game has humans, dwarves, orcs, and dragons, while adding mermaids, robots, and other such creatures. Much like the quest of Frodo and the Fellowship to destroy the One Ring, the main storyline of the game involves The Four Light Warriors travelling to vanquish the works of Chaos and the Four Fiends (Allie Dawson).

 

First Final Fantasy, 1987

J.R.R. Tolkien – Lord of the Rings, 1954

 

References:

  1. Wilhelm Schnotz, “Pros & Cons of Copyright Laws”
  2. John Oman, “Copyright: Advantages and Disadvantages”
  3. Kelley Keller, “Owner or Author – What’s the difference?”
  4. Allie Dawson, “The Influence of J.R.R. Tolkien on Modern Video Gaming”
  5. Carol L. Robinson, “Electronic Tolkien: Characterization in Film and Video Games.” From Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture, Ed. by Gail Ashton, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015
  6. Andrew Heisch, “Tolkien in Videogameland,”

 

External Links:

https://www.gov.uk/copyright

https://www.bl.uk/business-and-ip-centre/articles/three-reasons-for-copyright-protection

http://copyrightkills.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/copyright-advantages-and-disadvantages.html

https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/pros-cons-copyright-laws-5170.html

https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/simple-explanation-trademark-copyright-laws-9985.html

http://kelleykeller.com/owner-vs-author-whats-the-difference/

https://www.wired.com/2013/12/monument-valley-a-gorgeous-game-thats-like-an-m-c-escher-come-to-life/

http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/top-10-art-direction-video-games

https://the-artifice.com/jrr-tolkien-video-gaming/

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qbxm9d/the-most-beautiful-video-games-inspired-by-famous-artists-211

http://www.nintendojo.com/features/specials/tolkien-in-videogameland

 

 

Week 8 – Own

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What do you see as the positives and negatives around copyright?

I do not particularly see any negatives surrounding copyright. I think it is a brilliant idea when it comes to providing people, within the creative industry namely, protection for their work and things they create. An advantage to this is that copyright is implemented as soon as the work is published or put out into the world. This does not mean that the ‘artist/author’ has to have their work published by another organisation – as long as your name and the date of it is evidenced, then copyright automatically applies. However, It does mean that ideas are not covered as the work in question must be tangible, so copyright would apply in the case of an idea if it were written down.

I think where artists/authors, especially amateurs, are concerned, the basic, automatic copyright protection is beneficial as some may be naive to the rules of having their work protected and cases where people may use their work. As seen on the BBC website, it states that, “Copyright is enforceable as a legal right in the courts, so if someone copies the whole or a substantial part of your work without your permission, you may be able to apply to the Court for an injunction (this prevents their continued use of your work). And if you have lost money as a result of this illegal copying then you can also apply for damages or an account of profits (to compensate you for your loss).”(Bbc.co.uk, 2017) I think this is incredibly fair but it still might mean that certain works/ideas need to be patented or trademarked in which this costs money.

 

Is is possible to make anything new?

I think the answer to this question is quite subjective and depends on ones definition and understanding of the word ‘new’. Just like food and fashion and materials, near enough every thing is recycled and this goes for the creative industry too. I think it would be unfair to penalise people for coming across an idea and adapting it in their own way as that is one way how imaginations develop and grow. I think many processes like this lead to new work being generated as, unless it is a direct copy or remains at the same creative ‘stage’ as the adapted piece, then how a it not be new? When we go out to buy a new item of clothing, that item does not just appear in the shop out of nowhere. It is made out of multiple materials, then sent to different stores then we buy it and adapt it to our styles, refreshing the original garment and in a way, making it ‘new’.

I would also consider discoveries as new things having been made. For example, in 2016, four new elements were officially added to the periodic table. (IUPAC | International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2016) For many years, I have known the periodic table to be what it has been for years with the (slightly ignorant) understanding that all elements have been discovered – it just goes to show that four new ones have been discovered and if something new can come around in science, why can it nt come around within the arts? I think as the human race, or some of it, grows more intelligent and technology advances, we will see currently unthinkable ways in which something can be made or done. But of course until then, I cannot give an example as I am not able to think of the unthinkable.Â