4 Matching Annotations
  1. Oct 2021
    1. A legal finding of fair use takes into account the following factors: The purpose of the use, The amount of the work to be used, The effect of the use on the market for or value of the original work, and The nature of the copyrighted work. There is no official definitive answer for whether a use can be considered fair, as every case must be judged on its own merits, but there are some types of use generally allowed under fair use, including criticism and commentary, parody, journalism, education, and research.

      Intent has such a huge impact on legality. If it's something you found funny and you just want to share it with your friends, that's fine (as long as you aren't causing harm to the subject of the meme if they are a real person). If you're a big company and using the meme to advertise your product, be prepared for a lawsuit.

    2. When you see a meme going around, give a thought to the subject of that meme image, whose life may forever be changed.

      Sometimes the context and use of the meme can be humiliating for the subject of the meme who never asked for this type of attention in the first place, like the Star Wars kid mentioned earlier who had to learn to "deal with his fame". Also like the anonymous woman in the "plane Bae" story though she wasn't in a meme necessarily, she still gained unwanted attention through the sharing of her story.

    1. I scrolled through the tweets with a smile, letting myself get caught up in what felt like a made-for-TV drama. Then I realized that was precisely how I was treating these very real people.

      You know when social media has gone too far when people start to blur the lines between fiction and reality, like explained here. We forget that these are real people with real emotions, not actors in a movie following a script.

    2. Blair’s speculation about what happened when the pair simultaneously got up to use the restroom (and Holden’s cheeky comment that “a gentleman never tells” when asked about it). Of course, the sexual implication is something he’d be praised for, while the woman is attacked.

      This is really frustrating and disgusting. Though it may not be appropriate, it's one thing to make an innuendo to your boyfriend or group of friends, it's another to make assumptions about strangers and put them on blast. Just another reminder to think before you speak.