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I want to turn your attention away from Covid and away from
the riots for a moment to get back on track.
Like the posts containing “Covid-19”, “Corona”, “Rona”, and
other names I have been calling it, I could be talking about racism until I am
blue in the face, stand up and sing soprano all day long. It is an uncomfortable subject to talk about,
but there should be active as well. I do
not have all the answers, but one of the actions should be an understanding of
another person’s race, gender, and culture.
Even to this day I never could understand the problems that others have
with African Americans and women or even American Indians. All three I identify with, although I do not
know what tribe my grandfather’s mother comes from. All people want to do is to
live the life given to them. It is the ones who cause the problems in the very beginning
(slavery for Africans and restrictions for First Nations and women) are the ones
who fail to understand that we are all humans and we all have needed to thrive
within this country. I am done with this
conversation, for now, let’s move on.
 |
Different types of creative works.
Photos by Pixabay.com |
I am actually a
pretty good soprano, reaching a C6 when I was a teen, for those of you who are
musicians, for the rest of you, it is called a Mezzo-Soprano.
These days, I am just a soprano, or second
soprano, inching closer and closer to a first alto.
Oh, I do not mind, as long as I have some ability
to still sing soprano.
It is what I am comfortable
at.
I blame allergies for this problem,
as well as when you age, you lose some elasticity in your vocal cords.
In addition to being a content creator, a freelance writer
and graphic designer, and singer, I am also a musician (almost classical
trained), a dancer (ballet, jazz and contemporary, tap, and liturgical), and I know
a little bit about computer coding. All
of these “hats” allow me to be creative and put my stamp on a piece of music,
recording sessions, writings, choreographed works, and websites, if I put my
mind to it. This brings me to a question that was asked on Quora.com, This person wanted to know if it
was “okay” to use someone’s created media in their product for a video that he
was making on YouTube. He did not say YouTube
per se, but I assumed that he was hinting towards YouTube or even Vimeo. He
also wanted to know if that person can sue him. My answer to that was this:
“Yes, you can be sued. They might be nice and
send you a cease and desist letter, asking you to remove the music. you really
needed to ask permission from the creator if using the music is okay or not.
I want to leave you with two examples. The
first one is I am also a creator of music. I am not perfect at it, and I have
not published any of it online. If I had published my latest, which is called, Corners
of my Mind, and someone did not ask for permission to use the music, I
would write a cease and desist letter because I feel that I could go further
with this piece of music before it was perfect in my eyes. I have several
reasons for not being satisfied with this piece of music. one of them is the
keyboard I originally recorded it on is limited in the potential that this
piece of music deserves. Most of the time, people share to let others know of
their process and to find out that someone who is too lazy to create their own
music is using a taking credit for that piece is disheartening to me. It takes
time to create a piece of music. Yes, computers make the job easier, but the
work is still there, as thoughts of music are coming from the head of composers
into something tangible for the world to enjoy, not the for the vlogger to take
credit for their own personal gain.
Likewise, when I first started blogging, I used
someone’s photo, and I forgot to give that person credit. A couple of years
later, another blogger asked for my permission to use the photo. I could have
said yes, but instead, I explained the situation, then I quickly changed the
photo to prevent others from asking to use it.
I am not saying that you are lazy, but you must
give credit and/or ask for permission before using the creative works of
others.”
Explanation of the answer.
We would all like to be
talented in the art of creating that perfect piece of music, a piece of art
that will drive millions to see it, or even a t-shirt that speaks volumes, but
not everyone can do it. Some people are
not interested in learning how, and there are some people who feel like they do
not have a creative bone in their body.
Some are too shy to do it. It
does not mean that you are lazy, and I do not see the problem of a person
sharing their works. The problem lies
when a person who worked hard on a piece is not given the credit they deserve
when someone takes a copy and puts it on their project.
We have all done it, even me,
and I got caught. Not by the original
photographer themselves, but by another person, who wanted to share it on their
website or blog. I felt embarrassed by
the gesture. I wanted to say yes,
because I placed the perfect font on top of the photo, centered it just right,
and it was gold to me. When I saw it, it
was the perfect photo, and I could have placed any of my photos under the font
layer, which I should have. As soon as I
replied to the blogger, I quickly went to my blog and replaced it with one of
my photos. To be honest, I did not remember
that I had done it.
I also explained to the
questioner on Quora that I am always nick picking about my latest piece of
music called, “Corners of my Mind”. I am
always changing the speed of the music, the rhythm of the drum kit, and the
instruments that would accompaniment the drum kit. Most of it is slight deviations of the
original song. For the moment, on my Casio
CTK 631 (made in 1998), I have a Rave for the drum kit (oh so 1990s), the tempo is
between 78 and 84 BPM, and I created a piano 1, an organ 2 (which is as close
to a Hammond B25 AKA church organ as I can get it), and a soft wave (I think, I
am not looking at my keyboard at the moment).
I have had the song in a Trance rhythm, 105 BPM, a Piano 3 (created),
saw synth, saw wave, you name it for instruments. I have even changed notes and transposed it
a couple of times. I am due for a new
keyboard, and my goal is a Yamaha Modx7,
which is the latest Yamaha, with all the bells and whistles to make further
changes to this song and to create plenty more with that came from. I have played on the Yamaha Montage, which is a bit pricey for
me. Apparently, Yamaha thought so too, so they created the Modx6,7, and 8 with
the Montage powerhouse inside at a lower price point. And you thought all that I
know about was social media, content, freelance writing, Disney, organization,
decorating, and graphic design. Give me
a musical keyboard, a tutu, and some tap shoes, and you have seen nothing
yet, LOL. This was the reason I talked
about Abby Lee Miller so bad back in 2012 if you have been reading this blog
that long. (to this date, it has received over 2200 views)
OK, I got off track, time to
pull it all together.
The point I am trying to make
is If it takes that much thought into my little song, can you imagine how much
I can mix it at a recording studio with all the bells and whistles that a
recording studio can give. It gives me
chills when I know how much a recording engineer can do to a basic song to make
it a hit. It is things like these that
make a composer tell a video maker to get their own music if all that person is
going to do is make it into theme music for their little video. I do
not mind sharing my music, but since I spent all this time composing and having
someone mix it for me, I better get the credit and it better get lots of air
time. This is the thought that goes
through people’s minds like Beyoncé and Katy Perry and companies like Disney, as
that thought turns into music like “Single Ladies”, “Roar”, and “Into the
Unknown” from Frozen 2.
That is the reason I gave
this person the answer he or she asked.
I am talking about:
·
Photos
·
Graphic designs
·
Poetry works
·
Novels and e-books
·
Computer programs
·
Prototypes of products
And the list goes on and on.
“So, Patricia, I get it. How do I solve the problem?”
First of all, do not beat
yourself up for it. Everyone makes
mistakes, and with mistakes, there is a solution. To prevent you from getting caught either by
the creator of the media you want to use or by someone who thinks that you are
the creator of the piece of media that they want to use going forward:
·
Ask Permission. When you
see a piece of media that you want to use, contact the creator of that piece. As a writer, I put down my contact
information on every piece of a blog post when I write for someone. I used to do that with my own blogs, but
Google got picky.
If you are a writer, you can do that too. write a quick footnote like this: Patricia
is the writer and owner of My Ambiance Life, Home Prep, and P. Lynne Designs blog
and website. If you have any questions
and/or want to reuse any of the material written in this post, please contact
her at plogan721@att.net. It is simple and to the point. You do not have to write how you are the
president of the Yacht club, you are the parents of 15 wonderful children, or
that you own a plot of land in Shri Lanka. All of that information should be in
your bio (or should it?).
·
Give Proper Credit:
When you contact the creator and they say it is okay to use that item, they
will often times mention how they want to be credited. I simply want to be credit as Patricia Logan-P.
Lynne Designs or Patricia Logan-P. Lynne Designs’ The Writing Cove if it is a
written piece. If you are in the US, you
should know the proper way to footnote something. Logan, Patricia, “May I borrow
your creative works”, My Ambiance Life Blog.
The good news is a long time ago, you had to write the whole citation. Now you can write a shorter version of it. The
author, the name of the post sited, and the site.
·
When the creator says no or when you cannot contact
them: It is not you. remember the example I gave the person on Quora. The piece may not be shared because it is not
ready. It is in process or this maybe
this person’s private piece. You may
wonder why share it in the first place? There
are many reasons why they have shared their works.
·
Use royalty-free products.
For photos, I use Pixabay. For music, I use Epidemic Sounds. I do have a photographer friend who can help
me with authentic photos and videos around town or I take them myself. He is not free, and I would not have it any
other way because he has a family to feed.
I want to stop right here with
the last statement, a family to feed. The reason why most people do what they do
is because of the passion, the dedication to the craft, and they have bills and
a family to feed. What a person does 9
times out of 10 will not amount to that of a millionaire unless the money they
make either with their craft and skills, a 9-5 job, or both is to invest in
something. If half the things I have not
learned how to do as a child or a young adult did not earn me a seat at the
table to buy at least a tube of toothpaste, I found other ways of getting
it. That is what I call, earning multiple
streams of income. You cannot just sit
and do nothing.
That statement I just mention
is the statement that helps me sleep at night.
To know that if things are done properly, we would all win. Asking the author for permission to use his/her
materials and finding other ways to help yours when they say “no”, will allow
you to make your passion and your job much, much easier, but hackers and
scammers just. Do. Not. Get. It. I hope
you do.
I am done. Be well. Stay safe. I will talk to you later. God bless you.
