Re: turtle image

["Jeff Knope" <jknope@xxxxxxxx>]

You are right.  My bad.

Hot on the trail of a new (to me, at least) strategy for creating 3-D 
animations, I found useful material at 
http://www.dinodata.net/Kids/animation.htm.

I considered attribution.  Though the project contains no text elements, I 
could have made one.  To my surprise, there was no artist credited on the 
Dinodata site.  There is a list of 14 "contributing artists" - nothing more. 
A site search using the word "copyright" returns no results.

At the time, I was engaged in what I considered a private search to find 
solutions to problems.  A sort of "in the privacy of your own home" kind of 
thing.

But then I made a mistake.  I shared it.  And in doing that, without 
permission, I crossed a line.  Thank you for pointing it out.  I will 
correct it.

--Jeff



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wendy Petti" <wpetti@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mwforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 1:15 AM
Subject: RE: turtle image


> I consider copyright issues to be relevant to MicroWorlds because many
> educators encourage their students to import graphics from the Internet 
> into
> their projects without discussing how to credit the source of the images
> (for even when permission is not needed, attribution is).
>
> Also, the purpose of copyright is *not* the protection of the financial
> interests of authors, artists, and researchers.  Please read the first
> several paragraphs of this article on copyright law:
>
> "The Purpose of Copyright Law" by Lydia Pallas Loren
> http://www.public.asu.edu/~dkarjala/publicdomain/Loren2-7-00.html
>
> In particular:
>
> "...The primary purpose of copyright is not, as many people believe, to
> protect authors against those who would steal the fruits of their labor.
> However, this misconception, repeated so often that it has become accepted
> among the public as true, poses serious dangers to the core purpose that
> copyright law is designed to serve.
>
> The core purpose of copyright law is not difficult to find; it is stated
> expressly in the Constitution. Article I, section 8, clause 8 of the 
> United
> States Constitution provides that Congress shall have the power: 'to 
> promote
> the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited times to
> Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
> Discoveries.'
>
> This clause is the constitutional basis for the Copyright Act and also the
> Patent Act. It is the only clause in the grant of powers to Congress that
> has a stated purpose. Section 8 of Article I gives Congress the power to
> take such actions as declare war, coin money, raise and support Armies, 
> and
> provide and maintain a navy. Yet none of these other grants say for what
> purpose the power is to be exercised. The copyright clause, in contrast, 
> is
> very specific about its purpose. The exclusive rights that are granted to
> authors are 'to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts.' To fully
> appreciate this clause, one must understand 'science' in its eighteenth
> century meaning. At the time of the writing of the Constitution 'science'
> denoted, broadly, knowledge and learning. So the core purpose of copyright
> law, as expressly stated in the Constitution is: to promote the progress 
> of
> knowledge and learning."
>
> I am not basing my position on timidity or unfounded fears.  I am basing 
> it
> on respect for the creative efforts of others.  I equate timidity with not
> daring or bothering to ask permission.
>
> I will assume that the turtle graphic in question was designed for the
> website on which Jeff found it.  (It's rather in the style of Jim Muller's
> graphics for _The Great Logo Adventure_ and maybe that is why it looks
> familiar.)  I am not going to assume that whoever developed the website 
> for
> the University of Maryland's educational program "borrowed" the graphic 
> from
> some other source under Jeff's recommended standard of Just Do It.
> Coincidentally, I have been affiliated with that very UMd Young Scholars
> Program - I presented a MicroWorlds workshop there last summer; I was
> invited by the very person whose contact e-mail address is posted on the
> bottom of the web page in question; I know her (Davina Pruitt-Mentle) - 
> but
> that is not why I'm writing in defense of their graphics.  I am writing in
> defense of creative efforts everywhere.
>
> To me, Jeff's argument calling for aggressive resistance sounds a bit like 
> a
> person justifying shoplifting from a small shopkeeper because of a vague
> discontent with Big Business.  Why hurt the blameless "little guy" who 
> *is*
> trying to support quality education in some small artistic way?  There is 
> no
> defense for this.
>
> I won't continue to harp on this, but I do feel strongly about it, as a
> person who creates things and a person who educates children.
>
> .... And, putting words into action, I've just this minute dropped a line 
> to
> Davina to ask for permission for Jean to use the turtle graphic (if it's
> Davina's or UMD's - and if not, I've asked where she obtained it).  I'll 
> let
> you know if I hear back.
>
> Wendy
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: mwforum-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:mwforum-admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Jeff
> > Knope
> > Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 2:34 AM
> > To: mwforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: Re: [MWForum] turtle image
> >
> >
> > Well, we seem to be getting into issues other than MicroWorlds.
> >
> > Regarding the decoration of classroom materials with an
> > unattributed cartoon
> > of unknown origin found on the internet, Wendy wrote: "It's an ethical
> > issue, not a financial one."  She is correct.
> >
> > The purpose of all copyright, patent and other intellectual
> > property law is
> > the protection of the financial interests of authors, artists and
> > researchers.  Nothing else.  That's what makes it an ethical issue.
> >
> > She wrote, "I think we should be modeling for teachers and students
> > appropriate use of copyrighted material."  I agree.  What needs to be
> > modeled is respect for authors (when known), common sense and
> > good judgment.
> > Not being flummoxed by timidity and unfounded fears.
> >
> > In this era of criminally inadequate support for quality
> > education, it is my
> > view a certain aggressive resistance, reminiscent of the
> > Sufferage and Civil
> > Rights movements, is called for.  When someone complains,
> > apologize and give
> > them proper credit.
> >
> > Otherwise, Just Do It.
> >
> > --Jeff