my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » Los Angeles Boy Scouts can now earn an MPAA Merit Badge (Page 1)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Author Topic: Los Angeles Boy Scouts can now earn an MPAA Merit Badge David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-13-2007 08:51 PM                        Official curriculum in PDF and HTML. RESPECT COPYRIGHTS: Curriculum for the Los Angeles Area Boy Scouts of America Intellectual Property is no different than physical property. Stealing intellectual property that is copyrighted is against the law and can have serious consequences. Movies, music, games and software are forms of intellectually property that are usually copyrighted to protect the people who make them. Copyright theft, often called “piracy” is the theft of copyrighted materials. Some copyright thieves have so-called “bootleg” operations on the streets where they sell illegal copies of such materials while others may post them on the Internet for people to download illegally. Both forms of copyright theft are illegal and carry various penalties under the law. This program is meant to teach the value of a copyright whether it’s a movie available on the Internet or in the form of a bootleg product on the street. Activities: Demonstrate your knowledge of the following: a. What is a copyright? b. Why do copyrights matter? c. Identify five types of copyrighted works (two may be your own). For each, give the author/creator and the date the work was copyrighted. d. Name three ways copyrighted materials may be stolen. Presentation: Complete ONE of the following activities: Create a Public Service Announcement/Copyright Protection Advertisement - With the help of your counselor and/or troop leader, prepare a 1-minute (60 seconds) video that demonstrates the importance of copyright protection. Write a Pamphlet/Brochure - Create a presentation (either in power-point format or a pamphlet/brochure) that demonstrates why copyright protection is important. Perform a Skit - Write and perform a skit about why copyright protection is important. Book - Create your own original illustration depicting the importance of copyright protection (i.e. comic book, comic strip, etc). Visit a video sharing network or peer to peer website and identify which materials are copyrighted and which aren’t. Make a list of your favorite movies and then list all the ways people can download those movies legally without violating copyright law. Research peer to peer websites – describe to your troop what they are and how they are sometimes used to illegally trade copyrighted materials. There are peer to peer groups who offer legal downloads and those who offer illegal downloads - make a list of both. Suggest ways to detect peer to peer software like the MPAA’s Parent File Scan. California specific: Visit a movie studio with your troop. Upon your return list all of the things you saw that went into making a movie. Have a discussion with your troop leader about how much each item cost or how much it costs to make a movie (information on MPAA website). Movie Go to a movie and stay through all of the credits. Tell your counselor and/or troop leader who you think, in addition to the main actors and actresses, would be hurt if that film were stolen? Explain what a bootleg DVD looks like and how people can avoid purchasing counterfeit DVDs on the streets. Video Game Play your favorite videogame. Identify who the designers are and describe the elements of the game which are copyrightable. Discuss with your troop leader. Music Play your favorite CD for your troop leader and explain why you enjoy listening to it. List all of the people that contributed to making this CD and what their individual responsibilities were. Materials/Research: Research materials can be found at the following links: Motion Picture Association of America www.mpaa.org Wired Kids and Wired Safety www.WiredKids.orgPage 3 Respect Copyrights www.respectcopyrights.org Peer2Peers www.peer2peers.org Download Legal www.Downloadlegal.org The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. www.csusa.org Pause Parent Play www.pauseparentplay.org  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-13-2007 09:06 PM                     I am an Eagle Scout so I believe I can say this with some authority: Lamest merit badge ever.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 02-13-2007 09:25 PM                        This is what it looks like: Also, apparently it's not officially sanctioned by the Scouts, so they're calling it a "merit patch" and not a badge.  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-13-2007 10:35 PM                     Oh thank god, I thought the BSA had really gone off their rocker.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 02-14-2007 07:55 AM                        Sorry in advance if any of the following is too political. Moderators - please feel free to edit as appropriate. quote: Syllabus Intellectual Property is no different than physical property This statement is in some respects intellectually shallow, and in others just plain wrong! On the 'plain wrong' score, intellectual property is different from physical property because: 1. It only lasts for a set period of time from the legally defined moment of creation (e.g. for a film under UK law, 70 years from the end of the year in which the first public screening took place), and then ceases to exist. 2. It can be licensed to many different people and to many different purposes at the same time. If I own a car (physical property), I can only rent it to one person at a time. If I own the copyright to a film, I can grant as few or as many people a licence to view that film as I wish. 3. The definition of copyright theft varies significantly from country to country and culture to culture. Stealing physical property means more or less the same thing wherever and however you do it. No so with copyright: what might be deemed 'fair use' or 'fair dealing' under one country's copyright law might not be in another's. Etc. etc. etc. As for the intellectual shallowness, whoever wrote this syllabus really should read Lawrence Lessig's book Free Culture, Free Society, in which he argues that the boundary between what should be legally protected as intellectual property and what should be in the public domain (and why) is a dynamic, constantly shifting debate. If you're going to teach kids about copyright, you should teach them both sides of the coin. That means covering what the public domain is and why we have it, not just why we legally protect the earning power of those who create intellectual property for a living. Rant over.  |  IP: Logged Christopher Meredith Expert Film Handler Posts: 126 From: Jackson, MS, USA Registered: Apr 2006 posted 02-14-2007 09:23 AM                        The MPAA is so devoid of intelligence and common sense it almost embarrasses me to work in the industry.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-14-2007 10:12 AM                     quote: Christopher Meredith The MPAA is so devoid of intelligence and common sense it almost embarrasses me to work in the industry. I would have to say the exact same thing about the Boy Scouts. They have recently been convicted of starting a major Forest Fire out in this area and aside from allowing scouts to go off on theor own at Zion National Park and fall off 2000 foot cliffs... and scoutmasters gtting electrocuted whilst setting up tents I would have to say that the Scouts have pretty much lost any decent face they had. Mark  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 02-14-2007 12:24 PM                     Here's what the merit badge should look like: http://fusionanomaly.net/negativlandcopyrightinfringement.jpg (Sorry I'm still too retarded to know how to post pictures directly)  |  IP: Logged Edwin Sheldon Film Handler Posts: 95 From: Mobile, AL, USA Registered: Sep 2006 posted 02-14-2007 03:46 PM                     Gag me with a chainsaw.  |  IP: Logged Jon Miller Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 973 From: San Diego, CA, USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 02-14-2007 07:29 PM                     More on the smoke-and-mirrors that is behind the idea of "intellectual property," courtesy of the GNU Project folks...  |  IP: Logged Ian Woloschin Film Handler Posts: 54 From: Worcester, MA, USA Registered: Mar 2006 posted 02-15-2007 02:21 AM                        Wow, I'm an Eagle Scout as well, and I have to say that is the biggest joke of a merit "patch" I have ever seen. From what I remember, all of the merit badges I did were not politically biased, it was simply a set of things that you needed to learn or do, such as swimming or first aid or hell, even basket weaving. This "patch" kind of totally destroys that idea. I think if the BSA ever officially made this into a merit badge I'd be sending some letters to them...  |  IP: Logged Dave Macaulay Film God Posts: 2321 From: Toronto, Canada Registered: Apr 2001 posted 02-15-2007 09:56 AM                     Not a joke, just a sad reality. The Boy Scouts of America, once a fine and proud independent organization dedicated to helping boys become men is now a subsidiary of the Mormon "church" and concentrates on propagandizing boys with their cult nonsense.  |  IP: Logged Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-15-2007 10:22 AM                     If that's true then scouting has changed quite a bit in the last 10 years. Perhaps I should visit my old troop and see what's up.  |  IP: Logged Greg Anderson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 766 From: Ogden Valley, Utah Registered: Nov 1999 posted 02-15-2007 12:59 PM                        Evil Mormons have ruined scouting, eh? Nice.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Benjamin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1445 From: Denton, MD Registered: Feb 2002 posted 02-15-2007 01:49 PM                        Nothing is like it used to be, including Scouts. I spent 12 years in the Scouts. Things are different now - but so is everything else. No - I don't think any single organization has a certain influence on Scouting. Most Scout Troops were supported by churches and met in them - hence the religious connection. That is still true to a point. Depending on what church your child goes to a Scout meeting at - there may be some religious influence. Anyways - as far as this MPAA/Copyright merit badge thing. I applaud them for trying to the right thing. Nowadays - no-one seems to give a damn about anything. So any effort to teach the difference between right and wrong - deserves ......something. Even if it is 'lame'.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.