But what makes something content based? Isn't most of the content we create content based, as in it contains content?

A summary:

I started this article with three questions:

1. Why do we copyright materials? We copyright materials to ensure intellectual property and creative innovation, protection for the author, and benefit for society and the author.
2. When did we first begin to copyright materials? For the United States, essentially since the "Framers" or "Founding Fathers" created the Constitution.
3. What materials need to be copyrighted? This was a complex thing to answer, the obvious answer is papers have that a specific author. The chart that I also linked in another annotation was also helpful in answering this question. Basically any material that is produced -- recorded sounds, music, architecture (blueprints?), books, poems, the list goes on. Even unpublished, unauthored works are copyrighted.

I was able to find all of the answers within the article, after a finished reading.

I did not realize that the legal aspects of copyright were so extensive. I found a website that has a descriptive timeline of courtcases, rulings, laws, and acts that have effected copyright in the United States since before 1787. Georgia State University is even included on the timeline--due to a fair use issue in 2014.

This is an encouragement to all types of writers -- not just technical communicators.

I do feel there is a correlation between freedom of speech and innovation -- which, like Herrington says, keeps the "Framer's" idea of advancing knowledge and democratic participation. Freedom to speak in agreement or disagreement of what our government does (or does not do) can lead to political action and change.

Herrington, T. (2011). Copyright, free speech, and democracy: Eldred v. ashcroft and its implications for technical communicators.Technical Communication Quarterly, 20(1), 47-72

However, it seems like it is difficult for technical communicators to claim sole authorship of the content they create.

And hopefully influence society positively. To participate in democratic interaction, technical communicators must think critically and consider multiple points of view (and potential audiences/users) during their creation process.

This relates to the complex definition of authorship mentioned in Reyman's "Rethinking Plaigarism for Technical Communication." I made an annotation that references authorship in the way we covered it in class during lecture.

This depends on the circumstance. Sometimes the company or client will ask the technical communicator to develop something that is completely new in the context of content or design. I agree with what Herrington continues to say in the following quotation, that the actions the technical communicator takes is more complex. Our service learning project in class is helping us experience this complex process (of developing content) that involves a lot of communication between us and the client, revising, collaborating, and even conforming to specific outlines like a style sheet or template.

I like how this is phrased, it reminds me of Wickman's "Wicked Problems in Technical Communication." The technical communication profession is a necessary one. Technical communicators are versed in rhetoric, and finely tuned rhetorical techniques are essential to make social and political changes. As technical communicators, we deliver important information to our users in the most accessible way. Even though it may not be our intended goal, we can create changes through our work.

Wickman, C. (2014). Wicked Problems in Technical Communication. Journal Of Technical Writing & Communication, 44(1), 23-42.

I originally thought the release of "The Happy Birthday Song" to public domain was a result of the time of ownership expiring, but when I looked for news articles, it turns out the song's release to public domain is a lot more complicated.

I also was able to find a useful chart as I did further research about time limits. It breaks down copyright terms for many different types of works: unpublished written works, published written works, musical compositions, and architectural works to list a few. It also separates each category by publish date, and gives dates for when the copyright term moves into public domain!

One can read the CTEA for free online with the following link: http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/s505.pdf

An interesting section I saw (and have never though about before) is enclosed in section 505--4, starting on page 4. This section details the exceptions to copyright law extended to food service and drinking establishments (restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc.). Most restaurants and coffee shops (and even grocery stores) I have been to always have music playing in the background (an exception being the jukeboxes you kind sparsely find in Waffle Houses), but I have never questioned the copyright logistics of this -- or considered how the playing of the music relates back to the artist's ownership. After reading this act, I have an understanding of why these places can play music without charge (if it is not a live performance of the original artist).

I have not thought about the purpose of freedom of speech in this way before. I've never considered individuals having the ability to "produce" and "distribute" culture. When I think of the term "culture," I think of a collective whole rather than an individual, but individuals do make up the whole. It makes sense -- if enough individuals say the same thing, it eventually adds up to make a difference, and that is what democracy is all about.

This is dual-edged: as technical communicators, we create and consume materials that serve to further knowledge and learning (or impact business interests). This naturally leads us to be participants in social and political interactions, or rather democratic interactions, like Herrington mentions in this article. I feel that the need to create content or develop solutions (to problems) is often driven by economic, social, or political problems.

Another point to be made here is that as technical communicators, our emphasis lies on creating content for our audience to use. We want our content to be for the users' benefit, the authors' benefit is of lesser importance.

Certiorari. (n.d.) In Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/29997?redirectedFrom=certiorari#eid.

A writ, issuing from a superior court, upon the complaint of a party that he has not received justice in an inferior court, or cannot have an impartial trial, by which the records of the cause are called up for trial in the superior court.