IB 5 - Laura Beckwith || Blink-182

Blink-182's music video for their single, "Up All Night" is an example of how this form of crowdsourcing could be appropriate given the context, however in most other circumstances, it could be inappropriate. When looking at the context, Blink-182 realized that there were many music videos that their fans had created, using B-182's music without their permission. While many bands would have used this as a reason to report the videos, requesting that YouTube take them down, Blink-182 used it as an opportunity  Rather than punishing their fans, they rewarded them. Something interesting about this situation is that in almost any other situation, I think that someone using the information, videos, photos or quotes without giving reference or requesting information would be frowned upon, certainly thought of as inappropriate. However, since it was a fan base rather than just a random group of videos or pictures, the potential issue was dismissed. 

I think something that plays a really important role in this cultural artifact, just what are the rules within the United States as far as using other people's information that has been posted online? Are there really rules that control just who's information is who's? These are questions that I hope to find the answers to, as I believe they are relevant in discussing how this topic could be perceived in other circumstances. For instance, in high school, I went to two schools. The main one, from where I graduated, I was on yearbook staff. If the staff ever was in need of pictures, we would send out other notices. While it was very tempting to hop on Facebook and use photos that kids had posted online, we knew that was not a wise decision and that technically that would be infringing on their rights since they did not submit the photos to us. The other school I attended, had a much smaller yearbook. They were in need of photos, I suppose it was near crunch time, so they didn't a lot the proper time needed to request pictures from students. When the yearbook came out, I was flipping through the pages and realized they had taken several photos from my Facebook, using a few as background images, the others, were some of my friends and I from my other school. No where did they give me credit for the images, nor did they ever ask if they could use them. I was quite upset, after all, I was on a much larger yearbook and we put a lot of effort into doing things the honest, ethical way. It was frustrating to me to see a school toss that out the window just because they were in a crunch. 

In a way, I think this is sort of what Blink-182 did. They took fan's music videos, using them without asking. However, in Blink's case, if anyone had a problem, the band could come back and say, "we never gave you permission to use our song either." They had an ultimatum if you will. But on the other hand, would anyone really be mad if they saw themselves in their favorite band's music video? 

I think the reasons that need the most defense are how is this different from if a high school yearbook were to take images from their students and put them in the yearbook? Is it different at all? Is it a case of "stealing" rather than crowdsourcing? Did Blink-182 contact the fans who's videos were used, or did they just use the videos? If something is posted online, is it really "yours" or "private" anymore?