Educators,MashersandCopyrightthieves

CarlyRaeJepsensCallmemaybecanbeheardallovertheradiolatelycatchyhappy
songsalwaysattractpeoplesattention.Althoughthelyricsaresilly,Icanthelpbutsinging
alongwhiledriving.AfriendspostonFacebooksharedthesameexperience.Many
commentedonthepostandalinkwasshared:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX1YVzdnpEc
.Outofcuriosity,Iclickedthelinkandasitis
loading,IseeBarackObamaonthescreen!Asyoucanimagine,greathumorwas
incorporatedinthisremixObamawassingingCallmemaybewithhisownvoice.Remixes,
ormashups,areallovertheInternet.Whatdoesthetermmashupmean?Astheterm
suggests,mashupsinvolvethereuse,orremixing,ofworksofart,ofcontent,and/orofdata
forpurposesthatusuallywerenotintendedorevenimaginedbytheoriginalcreators.(Lamb,
2007,p14)Whatisoriginality?Howcancreativityberewarded,especiallyintheeducation
system?Somesuggestmashupstobeathreattointellectualpropertycopyright.

ThankstotheemergenceofWeb2.0,theabilitytocopy,tocombine,andtoremixhasbeen
extendedgreatlyinthepastdecade.Theriseofdigitalmediapushedthepracticeofactivity
andimaginationtoanewlevel.Theeaseofcopying,downloading,sampling,and

recombiningmediahasasignificantimpactoncreativity.Mediaproductiontoolshavegotten
cheaperandeasiertouse.Moreover,manyfreeonlinewebapplications,suchasOneTrue
Media,PixtonandXtranormal,areavailabletononprofessionalusers.Anyonecansignup
foranaccount,explorethefeaturesandcreateaworkthatcanbesharedonthewebsite,
suchasYouTube,blogsandFlickr.Hundredsofthousandsofmashersareanonymous
mediaartists.Internetsurfersspendhoursandhoursreadingandwatchingtheseproducts.
Theoutstandingoneswillbeforwardedandrated.Theseproductswillenduponthefront
pageofwebsitesandsometimesevenonthenews.Somesurfersevenjointhisculture.Apart
fromleisurecreativity,mashupcanbeincorporatedineducationhandsonprojectsare
beneficialforalltypesoflearners,especiallykinestheticlearners.Someapplicationshave
featuresdesignedespeciallyforeducators,sothattheycanmanagetheirclasslist,see
studentsprogressandsharestudentsprojectwithintheclassinacommonspace.
Meanwhile,millionsofbloggersweregenerouslysharingtheirmaterials.Althoughthereisno
centralcoordination,thebenefitswereimmediate.

AccordingtoTonyHirst,theeasiestremixisnotreallyaremixatallandbarelycountsasa
reuse.Hearguesthatatleastitshowssomeoneelsecaresenoughtotakeacopy.Thereare
twomainreasonsforwhichcopyrighttakesplace.Firstofall,businesscooperationhire
professionalstocreatesoftwaresystems,applicationsordevicestomakeprofit.KavitaPhilip
describedhowfrustratedBillGateswaswithpiracyissueinChinaMicrosoftsWindowsXP
costs$245withlogoandshrinkwrap,whiletheunmarkedCDcosts$5.50.Thecopiesare
enthusiasticmimicstheylookthesameastheoriginaltheyperformtherequiredtasksin
thesamewayastheoriginal(Philip,2005,p208)Likewise,awealthofeducational
resourcesissoldinthemarkettomakeprofits.Onthecontrary,educationalcontentcreators
maybewillingtosharetheirwork,buttheyworryaboutundesirablecommercialexploitation
orinappropriatemodificationstotheirwork.CreativeCommons,orCC,providesamiddle
groundbetweenrestrictivecopyrightandthepublicdomain.CClicensedworksorimagesare
easytoaccess:reusethem,butgivethemcredits.

Learningisaprocessofimitationthroughobservation,repetitionandcollaboration.Weare
abletoadvanceourlearningindifferentfieldbasedonresearchresultsdoneinthepast.
Copyrightshouldnotbeaconcernintheeducationfieldaslongasyougivecredittothe
author.Iamcertainlynotdenyingthenecessitytobuycopyrightbooksorteachingmaterials.
Asmoreresourcesareavailableonlineanddiversemediaareaccessible,remixesare
encouraged.WhenithappensinasocialcontextontheWeb,peoplelearnfromeachother.

References:

Lamb,B.(2007).Dr.Mashupor,WhyEducatorsShouldLearntoStopWorryingandLovethe
Remix.
EDUCAUSEReview,42
(4,July/August),1225.AccessedonlineMarch92009.

http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/06/bloggingintheirownwords.html
.

Philip,K.(2005).Whatisatechnologicalauthor?Thepiratefunctionandintellectualproperty.
PostcolonialStudies,8
(2),199218.