Archive for the ‘Copyright’ Category

Mar

30

2009

Help people mash you up: it could be good for business

Author: Robin Browne

I saw the amazing film Rip: A Remix Manifesto last night here in Ottawa and was blown away by the film and by its central character, remix artist Girl Talk.

Rip is about mashups which are pieces of art made from mashing together existing pieces of art. Girl Talk works with music but any art is fair game. Many mashup artists use copyrighted material without permission and a central focus of the film is challenging the laws and industries that protect that copyright. I don’t want to talk about that, though. I want to focus on what ended the film: a mashup of comedian Stephen Colbert using video in which he threatens to sue anyone who uses it in a mashup.

This is another example of Colbert’s brilliant marketing skills. He knew exactly what would happen when he told the mashers not to mash and now he’s got a clip in a feature film.

So if your target audience includes young people, don’t just give them things to share: give them things to mashup. Give them your photos, videos, text whatever. Have a contest for the best mashup of your logo…and their ideas…

But be warned: you might end up going viral.

Posted in Copyright, Mashups | 1 Comment »

Jun

19

2008

Guess which Facebook group has almost 70,000 members…and counting?

Author: Robin Browne

The Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group does. You read right: 70,000. The group was started by University of Ottawa Internet law professor Michael Geist, and jumped in numbers last week when the Canadian government tabled its proposed new copyright law, C-61. Oh, and by the way, the 70,000 are against the bill.

The huge number shows two things: that lots of people hate C-61 and the power of Facebook as an organizing tool.

The most direct implication for social economy marketers is to encourage all your partners that are so inclined to use Creative Commons licensing because if they don’t everything they produce is completely copyright protected by default and, therefore, harder to share.

For great info on the bill see Michael Geist’s blog and Wayne MacPhail’s rabble.ca column.

Posted in Copyright, Political activism, social networks | No Comments »

Apr

19

2008

Does Facebook own your corporate logo?

Author: Robin Browne

Well, the short answer is no, but they might as well because they can use it almost any way they want.

I did my first social media client pitch this week and one of the things I recommended was that the company start a Facebook group. And then I got a great question from the marketing director: doesn’t Facebook own everything posted on it and, if so, won’t they own our logo if we post it? I didn’t know the answer so, of course, tapped my social media network for answer and got a great one from Andy Kaplan-Myrth who was flipped my question by Mark Blevis of the Canadian Podcast Buffet. Andy is an Ottawa-based lawyer and manager of the Law and Technology Program at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa. Andy’s informed response can be found in his post.

It never ceases to amaze me how social media makes almost every information problem solvable in five minutes.

Mmm…think I’ll go Twitter the question: how do I make a million dollars by tomorrow night?

Posted in Copyright, Facebook, Trademark, social networks | No Comments »