Detritus

Copyright Comic

Three law profs from the Center for the Public Domain release a new comic book about copyright, fair use, and implications for documentary filmmakers. If you've been following this stuff none of what it covers will be new information to you, but it's an entertaining format. The illustrations are a great mix of collaged elements and drawings.

It's really nice work, but the curious thing about the comic is that it contains a wealth of visual allusions and in-jokes that are not explained (like the sudden appearance of the Linux penguin), so that only those already "in the know" about these issues will "get" them. And yet the humor style is mostly pretty corny and "un-hip", as if the authors were aiming for a soccer-mom, Joe 6-Pack, kind of audience, despite the fact that the message is obviously directed toward filmmakers and other artists. The content pretty much follows the report by the Center for Social Media issued last year about copyright culture implications for documentary filmmakers.