@cougar_sean
Copyright in general is a gray area legally. Determining whether a particular use of copyrighted material is so specific that often times it must be considered on a case-by-case basis. In fact, there is no clear-cut answer to the legality of fair use material at all. “The Copyright Office can neither determine whether a particular use may be considered fair nor advise on possible copyright violations” (U.S. Copyright Office). In the videos presented for discussion this week, we see very obvious uses of material that is not the artist’s own work, nor is it in the public domain. I feel that both videos are illegal and am personally shocked that YouTube has allowed their continued presence. The “Star Wars Saga” is 100% an unfair use of copyrighted material. It is not a parody, it uses clips solely from the series, and it is used for absolutely no academic purpose. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, fair use “does not extend to any ideas, systems, or factual information conveyed in a work”. But this video didn’t expand upon any of the concepts, ideas or structures. The filmmaker literally just rearranged clips and play music in the background. This is a clear violation of the law in my book. The second video had me going for a while. But in the end, when it became an advertisement for Mountain Dew, I knew for sure that it was unlawful because that is promoting a secondary party without consent from either side, using product and ideas from separate entities.