Sliding into Copyright Chaos?
As more dance videos are uploaded to the web - especially to sites such as YouTube, will more choreographers seek copyright protection for their dances? And, once obtaining copyrights for their work, will rights holders proceed to scourer video sharing sites in search of those infringing on their intellectual property rights? And will we end-up with many more lawsuits in the dance world?
The answer is a definitive yes. Read "'Electric Slide' on Slippery DMCA Slope" on Cnet News. Richard Silver filed a copyright in 2004 for the "Electric Slide" dance. Silver is now issuing takedown orders to anybody who is uploading video that supposedly infringes on his copyright - he considers a video showing a few seconds of the Electric Slide dance at a wedding party a violation of his copyright.
Here's the Electric Slide website - it is annoying beyond belief. Click here to see a letter sent by Silver seeking the removal of online videos that include his dance.
And here are two bloggers who responded to Silver's takedown orders - I recommend reading each post and the comments:
- "The Electric Slide vs. Lathan" on Roblathan.com
- "Well, I guess I won't be doing the electric slide any time soon" on qDot's blog.
The Dance Community Should Address These Important Issues
I believe that the initial questions I pose in my opening paragraph should start to be addressed by the dance community this year so that the "dance industry" does not get blindsided like the music industry was five years ago. By "dance industry" I'm referring to anybody and everybody whose livelihood and business is tied to dance.
The big music labels and recording artists got caught flat-footed (I guess the dance world wouldn't want that :-)!) by Napster and rampant unauthorized copying and distribution of digital music. By the time that the music industry responded, the game was over, CD sales plummeted and they had to play catch-up with the Internet to figure out how they would make money from online distribution.
While we'll never know exactly what would have happened if the big players in the music business took a more proactive role early on in terms of figuring out how music ought to be distributed and sold online, and exploring ways to protect the intellectual property interests of artists, one thing is fairly certain, they would have at least had a bigger say and influence over what did happen.
Today, the dance industry stands at the same precipice the music industry did five years ago: dancers, choreographers and other performing artists are going to increasingly have difficulty stopping people from shooting videos of their work. More and more people have small mobile phones that record video. And unless presenters and dance companies intend to implement draconian measures - such as full-body searches for consumer electronic equipment - when patrons walk into a theater, it will become more and more difficult to stop illegal video taping of dance performances. (Even museums can't stop visitors from taking snapshots with camera phones in broad daylight). Plus, anybody can perform any dance piece, make a video and upload it to the Internet.
And these illegal videos are going to end-up in one place: YouTube. The increased availability of unauthorized video will inevitably lead more dance creators to seek copyright protection for their work and this, in turn, will lead to many more legal confrontations and lawsuits.
A Call to Action
The dance industry still has a small-time frame in which action can be taken. I strongly recommend that the dance community immediately starts a dialogue about how to protect the creative work of choreographers and dancers.
In addition, it is important to consider a number of different approaches to licensing creative work whether it is for commercial or non-commercial purposes. And this should all be done in the context of figuring out how choreographers, dancers and dance companies can not only control the use of their work, but also begin to benefit financially from online distribution.
And here is the big silver lining. Considering different copyright and licensing approaches is not just about preventing unauthorized use of one's dances, it is also about helping choreographers, dancers and dance companies create significant new revenue streams for their creative output.
Posted by Doug Fox on February 8, 2007 6:35 AM
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The fight is going to be a tough one because of the USA's rather good Title 17 Section 107 law with regard to fair use.
Also, protecting particular movement is going to be a tough one especially when trying to persuade the legal system that a 15 year old in Delware is causing financial harm to Merce Cunningham (if only 15 year olds in Deleware wanted to emulate Merce Cunningham ;o)
The 'Electric Slide' guy is almost certainly high on something and personally I cannot believe they granted him a copyright on that dance and the bloggers have responded in kind by mocking his stance.
There is a revenue stream in selling video online of professional work and that's where dance companies, choreographers and dancers should focus what little money and energy they have.
They should leave the litigation to the RIAA and let them absorb the ridicule and mocking they richly deserve.
This is a good piece!