Origami and Copyright
Posted: August 20th, 2017, 4:47 am
I would like to discuss copyright infringement in the origami community—specifically, how we should be addressing it. I know many people, if not most, have probably used illegal content online while getting into origami. It is astonishing how easy it is to access published origami works on the internet, especially that of Satoshi Kamiya. At the same time, without them, many people would not have been able to learn origami (including me). I confess I folded a lot of Satoshi Kamiya's designs online... but I bought all three of his books afterwards.
Illegal origami content can be easily found throughout the internet on sites like scribd, google drive, and youtube just to name a few. There is a lot of illegally uploaded content, as well as lack of credit (especially on flickr). There is also Mariano Zavala B.'s controversial youtube channel—I doubt he gets permission from all those authors. So obviously, there is a copyright issue.
How should we address this problem?
Well first, I think we should identify the reasons why copyright infringes happen. By copyright infringement, I mean both sides: people uploading diagrams/books and people folding from illegal sources. I'm guessing the reasons are:
1. Some people don't care about the designers
2. Lack of access to books in local libraries
3. Buying books from overseas can be extremely inconvenient
4. Out of print books
5. People are desperate to make money
6. It is difficult to get author's permission
7. People don't want to purchase origami books
8. Laziness + easy access to illegal stuff online
9. Not enough enforcing
My solution: I don't want to get into too much detail, but I think the community should protect the designers by helping to enforce copyrights when people encounter them. I believe the community should do this because no author wants to spend all their time searching the internet to catch copyright infringers; they would rather spend their time designing. However, designers should also work to discourage copyright infringing by possibly offering a few free diagrams to circulate or keeping book prices as low as possible. Also, we should work to make books more accessible and desirable to the community.
What are your opinions?
Illegal origami content can be easily found throughout the internet on sites like scribd, google drive, and youtube just to name a few. There is a lot of illegally uploaded content, as well as lack of credit (especially on flickr). There is also Mariano Zavala B.'s controversial youtube channel—I doubt he gets permission from all those authors. So obviously, there is a copyright issue.
How should we address this problem?
Well first, I think we should identify the reasons why copyright infringes happen. By copyright infringement, I mean both sides: people uploading diagrams/books and people folding from illegal sources. I'm guessing the reasons are:
1. Some people don't care about the designers
2. Lack of access to books in local libraries
3. Buying books from overseas can be extremely inconvenient
4. Out of print books
5. People are desperate to make money
6. It is difficult to get author's permission
7. People don't want to purchase origami books
8. Laziness + easy access to illegal stuff online
9. Not enough enforcing
My solution: I don't want to get into too much detail, but I think the community should protect the designers by helping to enforce copyrights when people encounter them. I believe the community should do this because no author wants to spend all their time searching the internet to catch copyright infringers; they would rather spend their time designing. However, designers should also work to discourage copyright infringing by possibly offering a few free diagrams to circulate or keeping book prices as low as possible. Also, we should work to make books more accessible and desirable to the community.
What are your opinions?