Copyright Holders - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2032 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Introduction Commons now a days is defined as the set of several elements that include â€Å"literature, art, music, film, design, radio, television, software, information and heritage sites†. Commons have been characterized into different classes which are- digital commons and environmental commons. Digital commons as defined by Mayo Fuster is the resources of information and knowledge, which are developed and possessed or distributed among two agencies or people that are freely available to the public. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Copyright Holders" essay for you Create order Public domain refers to those creative works whose rights of intellectual property or commons have been expired or have lost the copyright. These works are now available to public but are unavailable for the non-government agencies to own it. For example the plays written by Shakespeare and the theories or laws formulated by albert Einstein. Opposite of this is copyrighting, which refers to the legal ownership of a specific work by its creator and the creator have rights to use its work publicly and distribute, though for a limited period of time. The work that have been copyrighted to a particular person or an agency is said to be â€Å"under license† or â€Å"with permission†. This essay inter relates these three terms and specifies that how copyright holders enclose the commons and what is its effect on the public. Copyright Term The Australian copyright law establishes the policies and laws for the rights of creators and works of artists. After amendment, Aust ralian copyright law 1968, defines the scope of copyright in the country. There has been a lot of extension in copyright terms throughout 20th century. On 1 may 1969, Australian copyright act 1968 came into existence. The first major amendment occurred in 1974, when the government of Whitlam authorized Copyright Law Committee, headed by Justice Franki, to look over the effect of reprographic reproduction on Australian copyright law. The committee was also given the power of examining the influence of Xeroxing and â€Å"to recommend any alterations to the copyright law of Australia to effect a proper balance of interest between owners of copyright and the users of copyright material in respect of reprographic reproduction†. The other power or work of the Australian Copyright Law is to set the copyright term that is the time interval assigned to an agency or person to have the ownership of commons. â€Å"plus 50† rule was used in Australia before 2004, according to which the copyrighted work or commons was put in the public domain for 50 years after the death of owner. But this law was amended in 2006 and was changed to â€Å"plus 70† that is Putting the work in public domain for 70 years after the death of owner. This â€Å"plus 70† rule is also used by the other countries like United States of America, and the other countries included in the European Union. As per Berne convention, the minimum time in between the death of creator and entering of his work in public domain is 50 years. Crown copyright is not included in this extension from â€Å"plus 70† to â€Å"plus 50†. Moreover, according to â€Å"plus 70† rule- The work is out of copyright if it was published in the lifetime of its creator, who died before January 1, 1955 The work is out of copyright even after 70 years of the creator’s death, if the work was published in the lifetime of its creator, who died after December 31, 1954 The work is out of copyright even after 70 years of its publication, if the work was published after the death of its creator The work is indefinitely open for copyrighting which was never published by its creator. Pictures, audios, movies and other commons are copyrighted for 70 years after their publication. Whereas video and audio broadcasts are open for only 50 years of copyright after the first broadcasting year. The copyright term generally depends or starts, after the creator’s death, from the day of its first broadcast or publication or performance. The period of 70 or 50 years is considered to start from the end of the concerned calendar year. Except for the commons falling under the â€Å"Rule of shorter term†, it is important to note that the country from which the work originates, the country where the work is published or the nationality of the creator are not the key aspects of the copyrighting. Copyright term may differ from country to country. Extension to plus 70 There have been frequent debate regarding the extension of copyright term to â€Å"plus 70† from â⠂¬Å"plus 50†. Many people find this extension of copyright unconstitutional as when the expiry date of copyright comes, the copyright holders demand or bargain the government and mostly extends the right of ownership on existing works, due to this the general public is deprived of the benefit that was due to them under the Australian copyright law and is considered as theft of intellectual property from the general public. When the government does not grant extension to the current copyright holders, then they protest by considering the non-extension of their works as theft. The 70 years of extension to copyright seems to be illogical as most of the owners are dead by then. The extension is done to benefit the family of the owner, who might die before his ownership ends. But this extension of copyright also deprives the future generation and force them to wait a little longer to get the ownership of past work as the work is neither under the ownership of its creator nor it is in the public domain. So people consider the extension as legal theft of their intellectual property. According to section 51(xviii) of Australian constitution, it is under the power of federal parliament to â€Å"copyright commons, patent inventions and designs and trade mark†, without concerning about limiting the time interval of ownership. Moreover, according to section 51(xxxvi), it is under the power of federal parliament to establish policies for â€Å"the acquisition of property on just terms from any state or person for any purpose in respect of which the Parliament has power to make laws†. So it can be said that the copyright extensions to â€Å"plus 70† is unconstitutional unless the general public are properly remunerated. RIP: A Remix Manifesto, which is a documentary investigating the issues of copyright also talks about the copyright extensions of existing works. According to this documentary, with the copyrighting the future open source cinema is becoming less free and to make these societies free government has to limit the tie interval of ownership of existing works. This documentary distinct the copyrighting from the public domain and promotes the free flow of information and art (Galor 2008). Impact of Internet Culture is nothing but the sharing of behaviors, ideas and artifacts among people. This creates a passing of standards from one generation to another. Internet was started for the communication but now affects the way that culture is created and shared. Because of the internet, now culture of various societies can be more easily explored and one can know about one’s culture just through a search engine. So one can learn culture even without experiencing it and he or she can decide if he/she is interested or not on experiencing it. Because of this uniqueness of culture has diminished. So the internet will keep changing the way culture is shared and created with its increasing use. It is important to k eep a look on this effect so that we can limit the negative effects and increase the positive effects. Australian government is working for minimizing the negative effect through Stop Piracy Act and Protect IP Act. Fair Use According to copyright law of Australia it is definitive that legal enforceable creator’s rights of creativity and artistic works under the Australian law have to be done with fair dealing. The copyright scope in Australia has a definition in Australian copyright act in 1968 having application throughout the Australian national law. Designs have to be covered through Copyright Act along with the Design Act. According to legislation of Australian the basis is on the section 51 authority of the copyright law in Australia which is federal and has an establishment through the parliament of Australia. When looking into the past, the copyright law of Australia was followed by copyright law in Britain but now it has a reflection of international standards t hat are found in the convention of Berne as per the Literary protection and Artistic working scenarios and other agreements of International copyright. This also discusses multilateral treaties and most recently consists of the free agreement presented by U.S-Australia agreement. The clear exception to the infringement of copyright in Australia has an emergence under the heading of fair dealing. This concept is somewhat comparative to the concept of fair use in U.s and in Australia is considered as a work used specifically in recognition to something whose copyright cannot be violated. However, fair use has specific range purposes that vary by work type and the possibilities consists of reviewing and criticizing, researching and studying, reporting the news, proceedings of judicial aspects or advice in professional legal dimensions along with parody and satires. For using a fair use, it is important that any of these mentioned purposes are fair. Dependence of what can be termed as f air is on the circumstances that include work nature, the use nature and the use effect on all the commercial markets throughout the working dimensions. There is therefore, a specific divisions are responsible for fair use in Australia. These comprise of exceptions special division applied with the help of computer programs, special exceptions of division in public places and the licenses of statutory framework which must be allowed to be used by schools, universities and also the licensing fee payment set either through copyright tribunal or through agreement. There is also a recognition of temporary copies under the Australian copyright law. These copies are stored under the memory of the computer with a term used as reproduction falling under the exclusive right owner copyright aspects. There are temporary copies exceptions present as well but these are not to be considered. Now, it becomes important to understand that copyright has to be taken care from the perspective of copyri ght. The copyright which is owned by an owner requires the owner to consist of a legal document. This legal document should contain a detail of the first publication and the name of the owner. In addition, the copyrights owned by the government are the ones which do not infringe any copyright if there is an action. The authority here Is only the government. So, if a copyright is owned by the government then it Is not free use until the government mentions this. Not only general public and future generation is working or protesting against the copyright extensions, but some authors also criticize this extension. One of these writers is Lawrence Lessig, who in his book â€Å"The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World† criticizes this extension. According to him the copyrights do help the authors in terms of recognition and reward but long term copyright can destroy creativity and innovation as â€Å"future always builds on the past†. This book also highlights the protests of several organizations that promote the protection of intellectual property (Lessig 2001). Conclusion After going through all the government laws and individual aspects regarding the copyright and extension it can be concluded that general public is against it while current copyright holders are for the extension of copyright. It is clear that copyrighting is not the issue but its extension do suppress the creativity and innovation. After reviewing the â€Å"Building an Australasian Commons: creative commons case studies†, it can be said that the Australian Creative Commons is impressively working for the benefit of public by lobbying for the promotion licenses for free content and policies for open access of information. They are educating Australian government, cultural agencies and educational institutions by their conferences and campaigns. So, more work is required to make the government aware of the negative effect of copyrighting and th e issues related to it (Creative Commons 2013 ). References Building the Australasian Commons: Creative Commons Case Studies, Volume 1. Galor, Brett 2008. RIP: A Remix Manifesto. National Film Board of Canada, EyeSteelFilm. Lessig, Lawrence 2001. The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. New York: Random House. 1

Enron Scandal - 9449 Words

The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, and the de facto dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history at that time, Enron was attributed as the biggest audit failure.[1] Enron was formed in 1985 by Kenneth Lay after merging Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth. Several years later, when Jeffrey Skilling was hired, he developed a staff of executives that, by the use of accounting loopholes, special purpose entities, and poor financial reporting, were able to hide billions of†¦show more content†¦By December 31, 2000, Enron’s stock was priced at $83.13 and its market capitalization exceeded $60 billion, 70 times earnings and six times book value, an indication of the stock market’s high expectations about its future prospects. In addition, Enron was rated the most innovative large company in America in Fortune s Most Admired Companies survey.[11] Causes of downfall[edit] Enron s complex financial statements were confusing to shareholders and analysts.[12][13] In addition, its complex business model and unethical practices required that the company use accounting limitations to misrepresent earnings and modify the balance sheet to indicate favorable performance.[14] The combination of these issues later resulted in the bankruptcy of the company, and the majority of them were perpetuated by the indirect knowledge or direct actions of Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow, and other executives. Lay served as the chairman of the company in its last few years, and approved of the actions of Skilling and Fastow although he did not always inquire about the details. 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Manchurian Candidate †Film Theory Paper Free Essays

string(67) " on the small little television screen at the corner of the frame\." The Manchurian Candidate, adapted from Richard Condon’s novel of the same title, was released in 1962, and directed by John Frankenheimer. Brief Plot Summary The central concept of the film is that the son of a prominent, right-wing political family has been brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy Thesis Statement The Manchurian Candidate was noted for its breakthrough in cinematography, as the scenes were shot in a creative manner that was new and different in that era. It also made use of different editing techniques to seamlessly piece the story together, along with the use of certain recurring Motifs to effectively deliver the story to the audience. We will write a custom essay sample on Manchurian Candidate – Film Theory Paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now This paper would examine how the groundbreaking use of cinematography, editing help to bring across the theme of surrealism, and delivers a thrilling effect while the motifs help bridge the Theme of The Manchurian Candidate with the use of visual elements. Cinematography The Manchurian Candidate made use of several different brilliant cinematography aspects to bring forward the theme of surrealism and thrill to the audience. According to the Dictionary, the term â€Å"surrealism† refers to â€Å"an avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, characterized by the evocative juxtaposition of incongruous images in order to include unconscious and dream elements. † This theme was highlighted in several scenes in the film. Particularly in a scene where Major Marco was having a nightmare, the camera tracked from the end of Marco’s bedroom towards Marco, who was lying on the bed sleeping. The tracking shot ended with a close up of Marco’s face, with his brows furrowed as he began to experience his recurring nightmare. The close up shot of Marco’s troubled face was then superimposed onto his nightmare shot. From the tracking to close up shot, it creates a sense of mystery and suspense, which intrigues the audience and builds up the anticipation. After which it would lead up to the film’s most noted scene- the Ladies in Garden Club scene. In this scene, the director made use of a 360 degrees panning shot to showcase three different points of view- the â€Å"Reality†, the â€Å"brainwashed white man’s imagination† and the â€Å"brainwashed black man’s imagination†. These three different points of view in a dream add up to one big surrealistic nightmare scene. It is also important to note that this scene was considered to be â€Å"notorious† (Chung, 2006, p. 129) during that era, for its unconventional use of camera work. During and after the 1950s, there is an â€Å"increase in the number of dark, provocative and original films. (Mann, 2008, p. 12) and The Manchurian Candidate was one of them. It was â€Å"stylistically ambitious† (Mann, 2008, p. 12) and can be considered a breakthrough in cinematography during that era. This scene alone had to be shot 3 different times, as each individual point of view comprised of different elements and actors. The platoon was capture d and brainwashed into thinking they were attending a ladies horticulture club meeting, when in fact they were present and sitting in a Communist meeting. The camera then does a 360 degrees slow panning shot from the lady speaking, Mrs. Whittaker, to everyone present in the scene, listening to the talk. However, as the camera makes a full round and returns to the start, gone was Mrs. Whittaker, and in her place stood an East Asian doctor giving the Russian and Chinese generals a speech about the brainwashed American soldiers. This panning shot builds up suspense, as the camera slowly pans around the venue, showing that there were only ladies present. It delivered a shock to the audience, who expected to see Mrs. Whittaker after the camera makes a full round, to find out that the lady was gone and replaced by a man instead. This slow panning movement also gave the scene a dream-like quality, which is a characteristic often associated with the theme of surrealism. The scene with the doctor and Communist generals reflected the â€Å"reality† of which the soldiers are unaware of, as they were brainwashed. The camera used a low-angle shot to reveal the amphitheatre filled with Communists. It was positioned behind the soldiers, as if they were looking up to those seated. This is to show that the American soldiers caught were at the mercy of those Generals present, to show authority from those seated above and around the amphitheatre. Even though they are under the mercy of the Communists, the soldiers showed no sign of fear as they were brainwashed into thinking they were facing a group of women instead. Hence the use of camera angle here provides a sort of contradiction to reality, it showed Communist authority even though the soldiers displayed no fear. Another groundbreaking use of cinematography can be found in the scene where Johnny Iselin was confronting the Secretary about the â€Å"number of Communists in the Defense department† with Eleanor Iselin manipulating her husband. In this scene, the Secretary was giving a press conference and Johnny Iselin stood up, and demanded to know why are there communists present in the Defense department. The scene was constructed such that the Secretary was at one end of the room, while Johnny was the other end. Yet they were able to appear in one frame, with the use of juxtaposition. As the press conference was broadcasted live, the confrontation between both parties were filmed and showed on television screen. Whenever the Secretary is in frame, Johnny Iselin would appear on the screen of a small television at the corner of the frame, thus making both parties visible onscreen even though technically, they are at different ends of the room. This use of framing and juxtapose imagery echo them theme of â€Å"surrealism†. Surrealism often uses incongruous juxtapositions to highlight conflicts (Strom, 2003). In one particular scene, the mastermind of this confrontation, Eleanor Iselin, appeared in the foreground, with Johnny in the background, and the Secretary reacting angrily on the small little television screen at the corner of the frame. You read "Manchurian Candidate – Film Theory Paper" in category "Papers" Every action was combined in one frame capturing the whole shot, filled with conflict and movement. This framing brought the tension of the film up a few notches and audiences were able to feel the impending explosion of anger between the characters. The unconventional use of cinematography aspects in this film successfully brings forward the theme of Surrealism, with its â€Å"unusual framings and camera movements† (Strom, 2003, p. 8), which are styles indebted to Surrealism. Editing The different use of editing was also one of the most noted aspects of The Manchurian Candidate. According to Carroll (2003), â€Å"editing, or montage, was generally celebrated as the most important, essential characteristic of cinema† (p. 153). Hence the right choice of editing technique would set the pace and coherency of the film. This would bring us to the editing pace of the film- the long takes versus the accelerated montage. The scene that showcased a long take, happened when in Major Marco’s train ride from Washington to New York. Marco was feeling jittery and nervous, thus he decided to leave his train seat and go to the back of the train for some fresh air. He arrived at the last carriage, and stood with his back leaning against the wall. A woman followed Marco and entered the same carriage. She had observed Marco from before, and decided to follow him into the back. Marco and the woman began to strike up a conversation, with random small talks that made no sense. This whole scene involved no cuts at all, all shot at one go and thus showcasing the aspect of a â€Å"long take†. The long take builds on the tension between the meeting of two strangers, showing the entire conversation between Marco and the woman, despite it being nonsensical and weird. The audience took in the scene at one go, after which it leaves them wondering â€Å"what lies underneath this exchange of words between the Major and this woman? † The long take establishes a fact that this scene is important, as it â€Å"intensifies† a shot (Goldberg, n. d), contradictory to the fact that the content of the scene is random and consist of small talks only. As opposed to a long take, which consists of virtually no cuts, an accelerated montage consists of shots with increasingly shorter lengths. With regards to The Manchurian Candidate, the accelerated montage editing aspect occurs during the â€Å"Convention† scene, where Raymond Shaw was sent on a mission to assassinate the President. In this particular scene, Sergeant Raymond Shaw was instructed by his mother to shoot the newly elected President at the Madison Square Garden, with Major Marco scrambling to stop Shaw from accomplishing his mission. The establishing shot of Madison Square Garden showed Raymond walking through rows and rows of empty tiered seats, arriving at a small room high above the arena. He positioned his rifle as he prepares for his mission to assassinate the elected President while he was giving his speech. As crowds filled the arena, Major Marco struggles to locate Shaw in hopes of stopping him. The whole sequence was edited with the cross-cutting technique. Through cross-cutting, it helps to create tension and delivers the sense of thrill when the audience sees Shaw preparing to fire his rifle, as Marco runs frantically to stop him. From the first few shots of Shaw preparing his rifle and locating his target to Marco searching frantically for Shaw, was edited with shots and cuts that got shorter and shorter. It adopted the technique of Accelerated Montage, which serves to create tension and keep the audience at the edge of their seats. As this is the climax of the film, by using cross-cutting and accelerated montage, the film manages to capture the audience’s attention and builds a highly thrilling and exciting sequence. Motifs The Manchurian Candidate makes use of several motifs in this film to drive home its message and to develop its theme. One of the most glaring motifs used in this film would be the Red Queen, or the Queen of Diamonds. The Queen of Diamonds card had appeared several times in the film, particularly during scenes that involved Raymond Shaw being brainwashed. In this film, the Communists had conditioned Shaw’s brain into receiving commands and fulfilling them like a robot would. However, this brainwash condition can only be activated when Shaw hears the line â€Å"Why don’t you pass the time by playing a little game of solitaire? † After which, Shaw would proceed to take out a stack of cards robotically and began playing. As he plays the game, he would eventually draw out the Queen of Diamonds card, and upon seeing the card it would fully activate Shaw’s brainwashed condition. At first glance, it may seem that the Queen of Diamonds motif is played out to trigger Shaw’s mental condition. However, as the film progresses, the intent of using the Queen of Diamonds began to clear up- that the Queen of Diamonds was linked to Shaw’s mother, Eleanor Iselin and later in the film, his soon-to-be wife, Jocie (Blakesly, 2007). According to Blakesly (2007), the Queen of Diamonds card represented â€Å"an adamant woman, his mother, someone Raymond would rather not see†. During the first few scenes, Shaw admitted that he â€Å"despised and loathed his mother†. It was eventually revealed that Shaw’s mother was also part of the Communist conspiracy, and a woman hungry for political power. Hence, the card that would trigger Shaw’s mental condition was picked out to be the Queen of Diamonds, which signifies his mother and hinted that his mother had a connection with the Communists. As mentioned above, the Queen of Diamonds is also known as the Red Queen. In this case, it represented Communism as this film was shot and based on the Cold War, which was ongoing during that time. Blakesly’s analysis surmises that: Another triggering device for Raymond’s conditioning is when he looks upon the Queen of Diamonds, the Red Queen, with the concomitant relationship of â€Å"red† to the â€Å"Red scare†, the communism from which the left in North America, with rare exceptions, still recoils. (p. 218) Besides being a figure representation of Shaw’s mother, the Queen of Diamonds also took on the representation of Communism. Hence it would make sense to why Shaw would fall into a state of â€Å"brainwashed condition† upon seeing the Queen of Diamonds card- he was being controlled by the Communists, with the card serving as a reminder that Communism took over his mind. Other than the Queen of Diamonds motif, the film also adopted Abraham Lincoln as a motif. The use of Abraham Lincoln ranges from obvious pictures of Lincoln himself, hanging in the Iselin house to a more subtle form, where Johnny Iselin dresses up at Abraham Lincoln in a masquerade party. The Iselins were from the Right-Wing, or Republican party. The use of Lincoln signifies the stand that the Iselins take within political context and also to serve as a kind of contradiction between right and wrong. Abraham Lincoln was a prominent leader of the Republican Party. According to Redding (2008), the film was â€Å"mediating symbolically on the political heritage of Lincoln’s republic among a corrupted public sphere†. Lincoln was used a symbol to represent America, and the director’s portrayal of the Iselins served as a satire of the America politics during that time. Johnny Iselin, the Senator, was portrayed as a drunk, impulsive and rash person. He often confronted the government with issues concerning the communist, when in fact; he is also part of the communist conspiracy to take over the American government. This is a parody of â€Å"McCarthy†, who was a rash and impulsive Senator from the Republican Party. During the time he acted as a Senator, he often appeared drunk and caused a lot of controversy. Thus the portrayal of Johnny Iselin based on McCarthy, and the images of Lincoln all served to fuel the director’s satire on the political situation. During the masquerade party scene, Johnny Iselin dressed up as Abraham Lincoln, a contradiction as he is working with the communists whereas Lincoln was regarded as a righteous politician in the past. To further highlight the contradiction, Johnny’s wife, Eleanor Iselin dressed up as Bo Peep, a character which symbolizes innocence and naivety. However, as mentioned previously, Eleanor was anything but innocent. She worked hand in hand with the communists in order to gain political foothold. Thus, this portrayal also serves to show a contradiction between right and wrong, righteous and evil. Portraits of Abraham Lincoln decorated the Iselin house, and in a particular scene, where Eleanor was confronting Raymond about his love interest with the daughter of a Senator from an opposition party, Lincoln was â€Å"staring† down at the confrontation. This is yet another example of contradiction between right and wrong, the mother being an evil influence was threatening Raymond to give up his love and Lincoln’s portrait in the background serves to remind us light will prevail, as the portrait was hung above of Eleanor as she speaks. The different motifs of this film helped shaped the entire plot and provided audience with clues; when they see the Queen of Diamonds they immediately would know that Raymond Shaw would be brainwashed. It also helped to bridge certain morals or theme of the story with visual elements, like the battle of right and evil was shown through the portayal of the Iselins versus Abraham Lincoln iconography. Conclusion This paper discussed how use of cinematography, editing helped bring across the theme of surrealism, and delivered a thrilling effect while the motifs helped bridge the Theme of The Manchurian Candidate with the use of visual elements. In conclusion, The Manchurian Candidate made use of highly unconventional cinematography and editing aspects that successfully showcased the theme of â€Å"surrealism† and effectively created tension and thrill, for the audience. Not forgetting the effective use of motifs, which helped developed the main theme with the use of visual elements and provoked thought from the audience as they watch the film, while trying to piece the puzzles together. Bibliography * Blakesly, David (2007) The Terministic Screen: Rhetorical Perspectives on Film. Illinois: SIU Press * Carroll, Noel (2003) Engaging the Moving Image. USA: Yale University Press * Chung, H. S. (2006) Hollywood Asian: Philip Ahn and the Politics of Cross-Ethnic Performance. USA: Temple University Press * Goldberg, * Mann, Denise (2008) Hollywood Independents: The Postwar Talent Takeover. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press * Redding, A. F. (2008) Turncoats, traitors, and fellow travelers: culture and politics of the early Cold War. USA: University Press of Mississippi * Strom, Kristen (2003) Resurrecting the Stylite Simon: Bunuel’s Surrealist Film. P. 8 How to cite Manchurian Candidate – Film Theory Paper, Papers