Today: Intellectual Property on Google and YouTube

The growth of Google and more recently YouTube are forcing intellectual property questions into the faces of just about everyone. Downloading and reproducing books, articles, photographs and other creative materials (now videos) “is legally ambiguous,” says the Wall Street Journal. What will happen and what questions should Web users (and journalists) be asking?

Manners are an endangered species, and this loss is reflected in law when it comes to intellectual property infringement. The natural question that a civiilized person would ask in the case of Google, You Tube or any other website material is, “May I please use your creative material or intellectual property?” But no! Not only are manners declining rapidly among children, teens and Gen X, Y and Z (gee what a surprise) — parents and yes, even some grandparents, have left manners in the wake of narcissism.

Many people forge ahead in the me first world, and forget about others — or else, even sadder, they remember others, and STILL forge ahead. This relationship dynamic reflects in law. People use creative and intellectual property without permission, when all they really have to do is ask — in writing, of course, and get a confirmation in writing.

Yes, yes, details need to be worked out, but the reason most people don’t ask is:

* They think they won’t get caught.
* They don’t want to spend the time asking, waiting for an answer, and confirming.
* They think that if they do get caught, there is nothing that can be done to them, and many of them are right — for now, while the law is still behind technology that moves communication exponentially faster than what it used to be.