Free Photography Tips Tutorials Reviews and Wordpress Themes > Photography Inspiration > Business > SOPA & PIPA – Just A Healthy Curbing of Social Media’s Sense of Entitlement?
Advertisement

SOPA & PIPA – Just A Healthy Curbing of Social Media’s Sense of Entitlement?

January 19, 2012 - Article by Matthew Saville

(Written by Matthew Saville; the opinions you are about to read are not an official statement nor do they reflect the beliefs of this website.Thanks for reading!)

Okay so if you don’t know what SOPA and PIPA are, well, you basically have not been on the internet *AT ALL* in the past few weeks.But CLICK HERE to read some of the “anti-SOPA” propaganda if you need to.

 

I’ll cut right to the point:Yes, I’m thrilled that I can just go on Youtube whenever I want to hunt down that random Paul Simon song about Nikon cameras, or watch awesome, tear-jerking clips of U2 concerts.  (For the thousandth time…) However, THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S LEGAL!Yes, I enjoy the freedom with which I can blog random tidbits and photos, even if I have no idea who originally created it…

 

Again, just because everything on the internet is free and we’re all accustomed to it, that DOES NOT MAKE IT LEGAL.In a way, I think that “social media” has given the entire internet world a huge sense of entitlement.And why not?We already use Google’s innumerable services for FREE.Facebook is FREE, Twitter is FREE, and blogging is mostly FREE.So naturally, everyone just thinks that if it’s all free, what’s wrong with sharing something cool / funny / educational?Even if it’s “kinda” copyrighted?

 

Well, I’m here to say that as a creative person, (and admittedly,reclusive & anti-social) …I would be just fine if 90% of the internet were just “erased” due to copyright violations.Sure, I’d cry a little bit at first.I’d have to start from scratch on my blogging and Facebook wall.But you know what?I’d also get off the computer, *gasp* and spend a lot more time in real life!Heaven forbid I actually go out for a walk, maybe to a library or to an art gallery, or a concert, …and enjoy other people’s creativity the old-fashioned way, without “harmlessly” infringing a copyright.

 

Now, let me clarify:THIS DOES NOT MEAN I SUPPORT the SOPA or PIPA in Congress.I’ve tried to read up on them, but all the support / petition sites seem strangely vague about the real facts; it seems like more propaganda, scare tactics, and bandwagon effects than serious discussion of the exact wording of the bills.Again I am NOT trying to diminish the true urgency of what could happen if those bills passed, I’m just saying that I haven’t been able to gather enough hard facts yet to form an official, vote-casting opinion.This post here is just a thought I had, and hopefully it will get you thinking too.

 

I do understand that many, many businesses out there are based ENTIRELY on social media, and in a worst case scenario these businesses / markets could disappear overnight.Millions of dollars could stop dead in their tracks, people could lose their jobs, etc. etc.However, once again, in my opinion it just comes down to whether or not what is happening in social media is LEGAL.If you’ve built a business on a foundation that is even lightly sprinkled with the illegal sharing of music or images, or any other INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, well, …didn’t you kinda see this coming?I’m sure you KNEW, in the back of your head.

 

Anyways, all I want to say is that I’m in favor of respecting the rights of someone who creates something.Just because the internet is FREE and EASY, doesn’t make it LEGAL.If you go and “share” a random image from my landscape portfolio, (in order to drive traffic to your website that pays you profits from ads or affiliates) …then you’re breaking the law a tiny little bit.You might have only profited a mere $0.05 by circulating my creative work, but you’re still breaking the law.

 

The only question is, how far should we bend the law, where do we draw the line?Is this “Big Brother” cracking down on our freedom of speech and other unalienable rights?Or is this just a healthy curbing of social media’s out-of-control sense of entitlement and blatant disrespect for copyright?So far, I’m not sure at all.

 

Your thoughts, opinions, and additional information (NO cliche propaganda though, please) are very, very welcome!I am certain that there is much for me to learn on this subject, and I fully expect to gain a completely different perspective by the time this is all over.

 

Take care,
=Matt=

 

 


(My #1 most copyright-infringed image)
Nikon D70, Nikon 17-35 - Death Valley, 2005

Related posts:

  1. Interview with Nikon Camera Systems – WPPI 2011
  2. Optimize Your Images for Search Engines
  3. Format Factory – Video Conversion Made Easy
  4. Nikon’s New Mirrorless Camera Lineup the Nikon 1 System

About the author

About Matthew Saville
Matthew Saville is a full-time wedding photographer at Lin & Jirsa Photography, and a senior editor & writer at SLR Lounge. Connect with him on Google Plus
Advertisement
  • http://slrlounge.com/ Matthew Saville

     Just about the ONLY thing that I can understand is that I shouldn’t be punished if someone*ELSE* posts illegal content on MY site.  And I should certainly be allowed to Youtube a video of me singing (bad) karaoke etc!But I mean seriously, do you REALLY think the government is going to start charging karaoke singers of a felony crime?  Or shutting down your entire online presence just because someone shares copyrighted content on your page / wall?  I dunno, that just sounds kinda weak, and borderline fallacious.  I’m all in favor of less government intrusion in our daily lives, but like I said I just don’t necessarily agree with the sense of entitlement I’m feeling from social media right now….=Matt=

    • http://wizardsofsmart.net/ panesofglass

      Whether it is likely or not, the bills don’t include any protection for the person who runs the social site. So if I posted illegal content on this site, the Attorney General is free to shut it down. It might be a really good revenge tactic, come to think of it. Post illegal content, then report the site. I’ll keep that in mind. ;)

      • http://slrlounge.com/ Matthew Saville

        Yeah, see I do understand how that could be a risk, based on the wording of the bill, HOWEVER it just seems unlikely to me that people would get away with something so simple as posting illegal content on an enemy’s site just to get them shut down.  

        I just watched the TED video on Fstoppers, and the guy made some very good points about how it should NOT be a “guilty until proven innocent” situation.  I agree with that, and if that’s the gist of the legislation, then I’m wholly against it.  

        What I’m in favor of is simply being more strict with sites that just blatantly encourage, and profit from, hosting / sharing copyrighted content.  Youtube, Facebook and Tumblr (And sites like SLR LLounge!) are the perfect examples.  Youtube MAKES A PROFIT when they put a commercial at the beginning of a video someone uploaded with copyrighted content.  And it’s the same with any type of traffic-driven business model, where “buzz” and “clickthroughs” equal $$$.  

        Essentially, this is the core of internet marketing and social media today:  If you casually share (steal) a large enough volume of other people’s copyrighted content, you can make a living off OTHER people’s hard work.  I don’t agree with that.  I try and be very respectful of other people’s hard work here on SLR Lounge.  I actually did go and buy that “Dark Lens” book by Cedric Delsaux, for example.  I suppose I’m still breaking the law, under the SOPA or PIPA, but then again on the other hand it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I had to contact people and get permission to share their work.  (It WOULD be the end of the world if I had to police every single comment, but again I just don’t see that as being as terrible of an issue as people are making it out to be.)

        I dunno, maybe I just have too much faith in our government to be logical and fair, LOL.

        =Matt=

        • http://wizardsofsmart.net/ panesofglass

          That’s probably the difference between us: faith in gov’t. I have none. I think they’ve proven time and again the reason for the balance of power set up by the Founding Fathers.

          I do think sites should take more responsibility for enabling the just action of pursuing the removal of illegal content. Unfortunately, most of the ones who have done so thus far have taken a guilty-until-proven-innocent approach, which is most likely why the social tech world is so up in arms. (I’m thinking of PayPal and GoDaddy, btw. At least those are the ones I’ve read reports and complaints against. I’m sure there are others.)

  • Dan

    SOPA bill: 
    http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d112:23:./temp/~bdvxN6::|/home/LegislativeData.php?n=BSS;c=112|

    PIPA bill: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112s968

    No propaganda so you can form your own opinion.  Just remember that with laws, vague language is generally not good.

    • http://slrlounge.com/ Matthew Saville

      Thanks Dan!  Will read later for sure, at least before the 24th…  I think there’s a character jammed in that first link though?  =Matt=

      • Dan

        yeah…not sure what happened with that first link…but it still seems to work for me.  If it doesn’t work for ya, let me know and I’ll try re-pasting it or use a shortener or something.

      • Rob-L

        “Will read later for sure” – So that means you commented on something you really didn’t look into? You’re the type of blogger I dislike; spouting off ill informed. But one only needs to read the article above to come to the conclusion you have no clue what you’re talking about.

        • http://twitter.com/SLRLounge SLR Lounge

          Rob, I had to say “will read later for sure” because I already spent HOURS reading last night, and I gotta get some work done now.  Calm down!

          Like I said, if you DO know what this is about, please chime in.  I fully expect to be enlightened and educated.  That’s why I said so.  :-)

          My “devil’s advocate” concerns are real though-  Piracy is getting so subtle and casual these days, I think something MUST be done about it.

          I agree that WE shouldn’t be held responsible for a random comment that someone posts on our website.  But I also firmly believe that, because of just how enormous social media and the internet has become, it is UNFAIR to expect everyone who ever creates something to police THE ENTIRE INTERNET for copyright violations.  A pirate shouldn’t be able to get away with their crime just because the ocean is too big for the victim to ever find them. That’s the gist of what I understand from this.

          =Matt=

  • Simis

    Hmmm… did not realize it had to do with copyright infringement!

  • http://wizardsofsmart.net/ panesofglass

    Remember Sarbanes-Oxley? How’d that work out? Having been an auditor during that period, I can promise you that the effect of the law did nothing whatsoever to fix the root problem. It just put more problems on all the people it was meant to protect. The same is the case here. In fact, tools have already been developed to circumvent any “protections” SOPA and PIPA would try to enforce.

    I don’t disagree with you at all on the need to protect copyrights. That’s not what is at stake here. The problem is that the bills are far too vague and address the wrong concerns. Would it bother you that these only actually do something about US users? The piracy around the world is left free to function as it wills. Thus the end result is that US internet users lose. No one else is affected. It’s really rather simple.

    The solution is to address copyright infringement. Unfortunately, the best solution at this time is still legal action.

  • Ether

    Not that I have a better solution, but for me the problem with SOPA & PIPA is it’s vagueness.

    Silly me, but I have faith that at least the U.S. government isn’t going to shut down a website just because someone posted copyrighted materials on its website.

    However, what the vague language in the bills does is making suing the website owners & the ISPs the most cost-effective & legal move for the copyright owners, & most of them are corporations. Now, which corporation doesn’t want to save money & see results at the same time? And with such vague language, it won’t matter what the government wants to do, because the bills will make taking down a website just because of a user’s posting legal.

    I believe currently, unless a website is in blatant violation of copyright laws, physically in countries with copyright laws & an enforcement system in place, the only thing copyright owners can do is to take individual to court.

  • Zack Jones

    How were you able to determine that’s your #1 most copyright-infringed image? Did you use a search service such as Tineye to look for other copies?

    • http://twitter.com/SLRLounge SLR Lounge

      To be honest Zack it was not that scientific.  But to the best of my knowledge, (based on friends etc. reporting back to me) …that is the one image of mine that people have *probably* used the most without my permission.

      I honestly don’t mind, but I would still LOVE to be able to keep track of where my images are being displayed online, wouldn’t you?  I’m not about to sue the pants off of every last blogger who shares a photo of mine, I mean talk about a terrible way to reward your biggest fans!  But I at least hope that in ~5 years, we can “lojack” our JPG’s somehow and follow them around the web.  Wouldn’t that be cool?  

      =Matt=

      • Zack Jones

        I do love seeing my images used that’s why I’ve made all 14,000+ of them on flickr available under CC license. One way I find my images is to search my flcikr username on Google and see what pops up. Only once, so far, have I found one of my images being used without credit. I contacted the web master and asked him to either give me credit or remove the image. He elected to give me credit and has since used a number of my football images on his high school football web site. I suppose if I were a pro photographer I’d have a different attitude towards people using my work for free but since I shoot for the fun of it I don’t mind sharing.

  • http://bigmariolife.blogspot.com/ Stephanie

    Another thing to keep in mind is, because of the vagueness of SOPA and
    PIPA, the laws will be left to the courts to interpret through the
    course of various lawsuits.  So courts in different circuits (i.e. the
    divisions of federal courts around the US) may interpret the laws
    differently.  Which means that we may have different “versions” of the
    laws for various regions of the country until the Supreme Court steps in
    and provides a uniform interpretation.

    • http://twitter.com/SLRLounge SLR Lounge

      Stephanie that is a very important point.  I think they definitely need to scratch this bill and come up with something much more specific.  After reading some more tonight, it does sound like they’re throwing out the baby with the bath water with such sweeping generalizations.  Even though I think that the doomsday mentality is a little exaggerated, I understand that we shouldn’t just roll over and play dead.

slr lounge store

  • Engagement Photography Natural Light Couples Photography DVD
  • Camera Raw Presets Camera Raw Presets | Amazing in a Few Clicks
  • Lightroom 4 Tutorials HDR Photography | a Comprehensive Guide
  • Lightroom 4 Tutorials Lightroom 4 Workshop Collection | All 3 DVDs
  • Lightroom 4 Presets | Powerful & Intuitive
  • Lightroom 4 Workflow System | Speed Up Your Process
  • Lightroom 4 Tutorials A-Z Guide
  • Advanced Lightroom 3 Editing DVD

    • slr lounge original series

  • Photography Tutorials How We Shot It
  • Photographer Interviews Photographer Interviews
  • Lightroom 4 Tutorials Weekly Lightroom Edit
  • Gear Review Software and Gear Reviews
  • Gear Review Path to Pro with AJ Coots
  • photographer Tuesdays With Lauri

    • sponsors

    newsletter

    Read previous post:
    Nikon Press Releases Jan 25th and Feb 7th – D800 likely – Cameratalk w/ Matthew Saville

    Now that CES has come and gone, and the excitement...

    Close