My project will explore the practice of fans creating their own Twilight videos on YouTube. These videos question the idea of authorship, because the creators borrow from Stephanie Meyer's original creation, but also add to the extensive works of unique and creative multimedia publications available on the web.
There are 351,000 hits on the website when you type in the keyword "Twilight," and this number increases extraordinarily with each passing day. These videos range from fan-created trailers, remixes, spoofs, parodies, alternate endings, to a range of creative inventions. While this practice is like fan-fiction, some of the videos borrow images and clips from the movies or use the same central storyline with different actors. Other videos transform the movie and plot in a more comical manner, such as "The Twilight Puppet Saga" and the "Twilight Trailer Spoof." Overall, the videos remake the original subject matter of Stephanie Meyer into an expression of creativity and multimedia prowess.
These videos lead to multiple questions about ownership and credit: Can the creators of the videos claim full credit for their ideas? Or do they have to credit the actors, the directors, the authors, etc.? Is this practice of "remixing" or "plagiarism" legal? Since the images and scenes are used without permission, could some sort of legal fallout occur? How does the author, Stephanie Myer, relate to the videos? Is it plagiarism because they "steal" and "borrow" from her work? Who is considered the author for this new form of multimedia expression?
My topic rethinks authorship because the creators of the videos borrow from the same central theme. The creators of the videos present their own point of view, remixes, and expressions of the saga, and then publish their work in an online forum for the entire world to view free of charge. Yet, while these videos are unique and innovative, they still infringe upon the ideas and copyright protected work of the original author. In order for these videos to exist without consequences on the internet, it is necessary to redefine the term authorship as well as extend upon the terms plagiarism and copyright.
Links:
http://www.multiplum.com/mostly/storyboard/remixed-i/08/2009/
http://www.plagiarism.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u718MmV0dg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dompotjTeIA
1 comments:
This is pretty much what this class is in a research proposal, and so I think it will be perfect, as Twilight is the new trend right now. I think that as long as someone credits the original and makes the distinction between it and the remix, it not only should be allowed, but encouraged as a way to spread creative ideas. Otherwise, the line between remixing and plagiarism becomes a little too blurred, and it would be hard to determine what should be allowed and what shouldn't be. However, I see why it is an issue: money and credibility are at stake, too.
I like your blog, by the way :D
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