Reading Response #2 – Creativity

This article focused mainly on the concept of creativity, and protecting that creativity in our society. It briefly describes the need for copyright and creative protection in society, as it promotes creation. Creativity is the force behind most human progress; however, not all creativity is viewed as positive. Also, the definitions of copyright become very blurred under the microscope of progress. Previous work, if enough time has passed (and even if it hasn’t), becomes an infrastructure, a building block for which other works to develop.
However, upon the creation of this infrastructure, a problem occurs; the existence of copyright. It is then said that copyright protects expressions, but not ideas—but even this changes throughout time. Thus, copyright becomes painfully defined in areas, stifling creativity and halting progress, and is too loose in other areas. It also causes creators to fear putting new work into the open, risking it being stolen and profited upon. While some would say it is “clear that [an idea] is coming from your own head”, this is a weak argument. In the end, copyright needs to be defined better in order to protect and promote creativity.