Reflection+2+(Fair+Use)

Copyright laws tie closely with the idea of using someone’s product to transform it in order to allow fair use for the product. Fair use can include critiquing the original work, accidental use of product, preservation of the product, or used to start discussion or any educational uses.

I have taken some images from Google in order to transform an image to use it for a school project. I used these photos as an educational discussion for class. What I did was take a picture of a woman looking at her reflection in the mirror. Normally this was used to show how women have struggles with self-image and how they can suffer a large amount because of how media has shaped their view of an ideal woman. I transformed the picture by erasing her reflection in the mirror and replacing it with a quote that read, “You Look Fine”. What I did was change the meaning of this picture as a self-image crisis turning it to a positive message that natural beauty is more respectable than fake beauty.

Although I did transform the image I could understand how one would hate this Fair Use law. One might seem to hate such a law because it can just cause revenue for a lot of unoriginal people who take everyone else’s ideas. It seems to be the easier way than actually being completely original.

The biggest problem with this point is that these laws are used to promote creativity and creates socially beneficial uses of copyrighted works. No one likes going to court for something that they didn’t even know they copyrighted so there are a lot of grey areas in which you need to weave through or spend fees on.

In order to have complete and correct use of Fair Use on a copyrighted image you must think about the amount you are using from another source, you much think of the nature, the purpose, and finally and importantly the outcome of the effect on your potential market compared to the market that the original author was aiming for.

Julen Emedan