MTV, Copyright and Culture

Hi guys! I came across this interesting article that discussed Viacom’s copyright takedown requests regarding resurfaced MTV images and why the requests were surprising / ironic.

For background – back in May, an archivists uploaded his collection 80’s MTV VHS recordings onto the internet. Almost immediately, Viacom (formerly MTV Networks) issued a copyright takedown request.

The TechDirt article made some super interesting comments on this move by Viacom.

First, it pointed out that MTV arguably once defined culture. This is contrasted with the article’s argument that copyright is the antithesis of culture because “Copyright is about locking up content and denying the ability to create shared culture around it.”

Second, the article points out that MTV itself built on cultural touchstones in order to contribute to pop culture. In fact, its most recognizable brand image uses a public domain image of the 1969 moon landing.

Finally, the article argues that the actual commercial value of a piece of work locked up behind copyright does not tend to be very long. It cites MTV’s current lack of cultural relevance as an example of this.

Of course, I don’t know what MTV’s reason for wanting the footage taken down was, but I thought this article was an interesting take on copyright law’s power and effect on culture.

BTW – in August, archivists remastered MTV’s first broadcast and put it online. This time, it has remained online and has 101,706 views so far. You can find it here.