Collaborating in a Content Gridlock

Licensed under CC0, source: pexels.com

Collaboration is the perfect recipe for creativity.

From sharing ideas, to sharing talents, when we work together it creates a project bigger than ourselves to share with others.

I've already talked about how YouTubers collaborate with each other on this blog. Social media allows us more freedom than we've ever had to meet and create things with other people.



In collaboration we get to share what we have with others, which we might think makes for a space for more creativity.

But it doesn't.

We live in a time when more that ever, people try to lock down what things make them unique. From Kylie Jenner trying to trademark the name Kylie, to YouTubers arguing over who came up with the term, "Brutally Honest Review."

We live in a society where we strive to be more creative and original, and in doing so have locked each other out of spreading creativity.

Copyright laws keep content locked down, and keeps people from legally reproducing or remixing the content. Disney, for example is a notorious contender for doing so.




In the domain of fair use, there is a loop hole to using content that is locked down. So much as you're not profiting from the content, or you have a specific purpose, for example for educational purposes, there is room to use it.

This of course doesn't apply to everything, but in some cases it can keep creativity going. In addition to fair use, creative commons licensing can help us spread creativity with others.

Unfortunately, laws keep content locked down, but it can't keep ideas and collaboration from spreading.