Parodies, Copyright, and the Internet

Parodies have been an internet phenomenon since YouTube took off in 2005. These satirical imitations have become so popular that there are actual parody artists and parody channels you can subscribe to on YouTube. These parody pages make fun of popular songs, movies, and ideas in society. Most of these parodies just remix the original into something that makes fun of original. The original version is most of the time still recognizable in the parody,

One of the most popular parody artists, Weird Al Yankovic, got his claim to fame after making a remix to Ridin Dirty by Chamillionaire called White and Nerdy. Yankovic used the same beat and melody and just changed the words to portray the life of a white nerd. This parody was really popular when it came out. I remember memorizing all of the words to the White and Nerdy remix with my friends. It was not long before Ridin Dirty was a thing of the past and White and Nerdy was the hit new song. What started out as a parody and a remix to a popular song on the radio, quickly became an internet phenomenon.



Chamillionaire's original song just became a stepping stone for Yankovic's remix. Some people would argue that Yankovic just stole Chamillionare's melody and beat and put different words to it. Some people would argue that Yankovic's remix was creative and original. These arguments come from the roles copy right plays in social media.

There are so many things "created" and posted on the internet every day. But what on the internet is 100% original? And what is fair game to be quoted and reused? For some people, copyright limits ideas and creativity. However, for others copyright solves an "unavoidable economic problem." People profit from other people's ideas all the time, but how can we solve this on the internet? What is free for taking and what needs copyright laws? Should Chamillionaire profit off of Yankovic's remix of his song? Or because White and Nerdy contained original lyrics, is Yankovic's parody his own? Micheal Mandiberg argues that "democratic form of expression is the freedom to take and use freely built into our assumptions about how we create and what we write." A lot of our ideas stem from other people's ideas because reading, writing, and quoting from other places helps spark ideas. The democratic form of expression encourages creativity. In the case of this parody, the remix originated after seeing the original music video on YouTube. Mandiberg says that "YouTube has become a platform for people to talk to each other." YouTube is a place where the freedom to use the democratic form of expression takes place."Digital technologies shares creativity with the world." The Ridin' Dirty song has the right to be copyrighted, but so does the remix. Yankovic's remix never tried to take credit for the song that inspired his parody. The White and Nerdy Parody is an original idea that spun off of another original idea during the free exchange of creativity. Every good idea had to come from somewhere.

Parodies, Copyright and the internet, just like everything else with social media is a grey area that can be used for both good and bad.  

Responses to Crowd sourcing Blogs

Crowd sourcing and social media has been a popular phenomenon in recent major news cases, and also in day to day activities. Crowd sourcing can be both a good thing and a bad thing when it comes to social media. Katie Gatto and Miranda Johnson make some interesting points when it comes to crowd sourcing.

https://annkgatto.wordpress.com/

http://mmjohnson341.blogspot.com/

Katie argues in her blog that crowd sourcing is a good thing because it has helped find missing people, identify murder victims, and it can help solve crimes. This has been true in some major headliners in recent years. Crowd sourcing helped identify a nameless murder victim known as "Grateful Doe" after 20 years. Crowd sourcing has also helped identify suspects of crimes. Security cameras have caught people stealing, and these pictures and videos are then released on social media and then someone is able to give the suspect a name. In these cases crowd sourcing on social media made a positive impact in society. However, crowd sourcing is not always a reliable way to acquire information. A large group of people that are not being paid, little experience are not always a reliable source. Information and facts can be turned into opinion really quick. For example, a group on 4Chan were convinced they identified the Boston Bomber from pictures posted on different forms of social media because this man was wearing a backpack. 4Chan falsely identified and accused this man and in return the man received a large amount of scrutiny including being interrogated by police. In this case, crowd sourcing made a great disservice to society.

Miranda makes a good point in her blog, that crowd sourcing makes it really hard for you to have any privacy in your life. Your crazy girlfriend that is cyber stalking you can find you really quickly with social media and crowd sourcing. The popular drama series Gossip Girl is a perfect example of how crowd sourcing can have a negative effect on society. Going to the grocery store can be misinterpreted when people do not have all the facts or provide unreliable information.

Crowd sourcing, like many other components of social media can be both positive and negative. The internet in general has this recurring theme. When people do not abuse the powers of the internet, social media and the world wide web can be a pretty cool thing. However, some people take advantage and abuse this tool and can cause some major damage in society.