Fair Use and U.S. Copyright Laws

@v_kono

I have never seen Star Wars, nor know what it is all about. However, I know infringement of copyrighted material when I see it. The Star Wars Fan Film was a complete infringement upon the copyrighted works of its authors. If the creator of this fan film used his own characters, I would be okay with that. But using the same characters from the movie and simply tweaking some parts is not acceptable. In college, that is known as plagiarism. In a broader and more realistic sense, it is known as copyright infringement. Stealing the works of the author and making minor adjustments for your own benefit. I wrote a paper upon this very particular subject and found that some people do not infringe on purpose. This very fan that created the flick could have been one of them. Sometimes you don’t even know that you’re doing something illegal until you get slapped in the face with a couple thousand dollar fine. It is at that very moment when reality strikes. The second video also bears the name of copyright infringement. The music that is playing in the background is slightly modified, yet still has the same roots. The scenes from the movie are also copyrighted works. They shouldn’t be used without the permission of the author. Fair use is determined if the media in question has an “affect on the value of the copyrighted work” (Copyright). While it does not have an effect on the market, the fact still stands that the copyrighted material was still used unlawfully.

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