Transformative Media Use
Using media in a way that transforms it from the original intent gives the viewer, reader, or listener, an additional way to enjoy that media. I found a good example of this online with a video from a schoolteacher in California. She used a simple song to illustrate what a music parody is. She then shared a project on transformative media usage that one of her students completed. A grade-three student used the song, If You’re Happy and You Know It and decoded it in a way that allowed elementary school children to understand and complete their own transformative media usage projects. You can check out that video here. Media usage that is in the category of transformative, can come in the form of commentary from someone about a video (or other media) that they found particularly interesting. It can be a parody that pokes fun at the original piece and makes you laugh. My favorite media to listen/view is music lyrics and music videos. There are many ways in which this type of media can be transformed. I like to find humor wherever possible and there is one artist who is the absolute greatest of all time (goat) when it comes to providing us with a humorous look, or parody, of a piece of music or video. I am talking about none other than Weird Al Yankovic. I remember his videos well. He created parodies of popular songs during the 1980’s. A parody is a comedic imitation of (in this case) a music video. His music parody of Michael Jackson’s Beat it presents a different lens through which to connect with that media. Yankovic’s work transforms the intense nature of that video into something you can laugh at and enjoy with a different emotion.
If you are contemplating media usage, specifically transformative types of media usage, use this video to help you identify what type of transformative (or reimagining) you are connecting with. Understand that taking a piece of media and using it for another purpose (other than what it was created for), does not result in copyright infringement.
As I researched media use and the area of transformative types, I discovered that there are some cases in which transformative media use will require permissions. For example, if a jazz musician created an instrumental piece and a lyricist later wrote words to sing over the original music, then permission from the creator of the music would be required under copyright law. Although the newly created piece provides a new experience for the listener, it retains the same purpose. The one instance where that wouldn’t be necessary is in the case of an instrumental piece that was public domain.
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