HOW DO WE PUT COPYRIGHTS AND CENSORSHIP SIDE BY SIDE?

This is it. Let's talk Copyright.  It may be a long story, but copyrights are not conditional

 

Of late THERE IS A RESOUNDING ALARM RAISED BY CONCERNED ARTISTS AND CREATIVES IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY REGARDING THE ISSUES OF COPYRIGHTS. This piece will not dwell on the details of existing controversies OF SPECIFIC copyright issues BEING CIRCULATED IN MEDIA. Instead, this article would merely want to throw further rhetoric on the issues and raise further awareness of the importance of copyrights. Also, this article would like to mention on the side, the issue of censorship, two of the most pronounced topics that can hound the vast workscape of entertainment, creatives, and music industries.

 

In actuality, it is expected that writers in the industries that hire them for work, or commission them to specific projects, herein pointed to encompass both the entertainment; creatives such as advertising and communication agencies; and music professionals, would want to impose their own “originality” and “sense of ownership” to their works or bodies of work.

These are expressed when writers assert their copyrights or affix one or more identifiers in their work/s that can actually validate or identify them as the writer/s hence owners and/or source of article/s; content; copy or copies; lyrics; poetry, and yes, including writeups.

 

The latter seems to be the easiest as all the writer has to do is to affix a line to the word “by” and the name of the individual, (e.g. By Juan De La Cruz), (see example herein): to signify who prepared the writeup in whatever niche or beat.

 

Having a byline printed right actually gives consolation to the time and hard work spent by a writer to finish the copyrighted product--regardless of whether a person serves as a reporter or as an ordinary writer, with a  published article for many readers or viewers to read or listen to.

 

In the case of copywriters, the copyright assertion can be simply done by giving credit to the creative or copywriter/s behind a specific ad campaign.

 

For songs, the easiest way to tell that there are copyrights, entitlement, and recognition, is when the lyricist’s name is written on the album or a song mentioned in the feature article.  It can also be done by giving credits to the songwriter during the performance of a song for commercial shows.

 

Copyrights are also essential to protect the integrity of the writer behind an idea; group of ideas; words; phrases and structure; whether the lines and paragraphs are formed to come up as a news; or as a plain newspaper article or features.  Or as part of an advertising campaign; or as lyrics for a song, music jingle, or other products of the intellect in written, digital, electronic,  graphic, or artistic design and/or rendition, with the aim to bring a message or expound on a certain thought, word, concept; give it breadth, structure,  substance, content, meaning, format and so forth.

 

The thing with copyrights in practice is, that a writer or creative who is hired by a company, at the early stage of employment can be compelled by a hiring personnel or management to sign an agreement that his or her copyrights belong to the company and not to the writer.

 

This ensures that a company’s investments are protected and sheltered.  And that moonlighting and/or duplicity of work are not allowed in reality by companies who hire writers and creatives.    

 

Even when the writer has created a certain work, only the employer/company must benefit from it, if it gives remuneration for the hours spent by the writer to come up with a work expected of him or her. 

 

But, the anonymity of writers, (herein to mean without a byline or credit) just because they are employees or talents can be read and interpreted as “exploitative”.  Especially when writers devote much time, effort, research, and use of set skills, to contribute their work for a company, but are not given proper credit or rights of ownership to their works. 

The anonymity of writers can be exploited in such a way when others “pose”  or front themselves to have written a specific article, or writings (that may not necessarily be anonymous writing for another), with the aim of grabbing the credit of a writer’s work.

 

It is understandable that writers and creatives of late would like to go further to the front row to be recognized for their copyrights.

 

This would not be so difficult to do if companies really understood and imbibed the importance of their writers who hone their work with copyrights in mind (herein comes originality).

 

No writer would want to be unrecognized, and yes, no writer would want to be left jobless either, by not agreeing to somewhat copyrights' "diluting" (figure of speech), when fronted with an agreement to be accepted for work.

 

It is important to settle this from a mindset that knows a writer's work purpose.  Copyrights are also founded on an individual right to create, represent, and write ideas; and produce products that are original; that which can be understood, shared, and expressed in many ways and forms.

 

If we follow this line of thought and explanation, then people can also claim copyrights to their own original conversational expressions that can be replicated or repeated by others-- e.g. “acheche” (back in the day this was a popular expression repeated in many shows; it was a word to express surprise).. Or the expression, “I love you, Lucky,” (we all know who the famous celebrity who spoke this expresssion much).  

 

Ultimately the goal of copyright is to identify-- who wrote, produced, printed, conceptualized, or expressed and finished the work.  Is it related to a professional duty? Is it an exercise and pursuit of a hobby? Or is it a natural practice and endowment of a talent that led one to come up with a copyrighted work-- one that has commercial and yes, even sentiment value-- that can distinguish a writer, creative, or artist from another practitioner. or talent These are some of the list of things to consider when discussing respect for copyrights.

 

There must not be a contest on who gets copyright recognition. In fact, one must not even ask if a credit is in order.

It must be a given, that the one who hires or commissions the individual; assigns a writer or creative, or endeavors to use the lyrics of a song for a specific purpose must give the copyrights' benefit, recognition, or credit; and of course, remuneration for a work done.

 

This is where complications exist.

When writers are paid by the hour to work for a company. But all the ideas that bring light and life to a company’s products (no matter what kind of business or industry he or she belongs to), ultimately embody the company’s majority of products or services such that they carry the persona and the work personality of the writer. 

Or let’s say, the work is laborious, tedious, and almost exhausting to finish, and/or, the work requires a lot of inventiveness, originality, creativity, and differentiation of ideas to come up with a written or expressed work. Writers and let’s include the artists, would definitely want to bind themselves to their work because that is the goal of their education and profession. Otherwise, being uncredited OR DISCREDITED defeats the purpose of working for an industry that centers mostly on coming up with tangible, written, visible, and/or audible; representations; concepts, or intellectual products.

 

There are different ways to understand copyrights:  by looking at it on the level of implementation- where there is a specific point person/s that ensures copyrights are credited rightfully.  

On the level of engagement or dedication when a writer, creative or artist/ talent focuses on that particular work for a definite period or is purposely commissioned to use his or her individual talent that thrives on copyrights; and on the level or POV (point of view) of entitlement and assumption,  to mean the writer, creative or artist deserves the copyrights because, he or she has trained for a certain profession that requires experience, research, skills and a lot of ingenuity and creativity.

 

From its current state and practice, copyrights seem to be conditionally recognized depending on the employer or client of the writer, creatives, or artist, despite the existence of proper safeguards in local laws.

 

Unconditional copyright protection can further be defended by the fact that writers and artists are required and expected to dedicate plenty of time to come up with the right output; making writing without copyright recognition merely an ordeal undertaking, particularly when writers are not given proper credit and pay for their work.

 

The last is to understand copyright as an entitlement because not everyone can enter the same field or writing profession without the right training. Giving copyrights credit is not done merely to brag or to earn but also for the fulfillment of writing.

 

On the issue of censorship, in reality, censorship of work can change the contextual meaning and final output of an original copyrighted work.  The thing that must be put to light is whether the output is for mainstream audiences.  Writings to be read, or heard by many, must exercise more careful preponderings, before being shared with the readers or audiences.

If a work fails to meet common public expectations and interests, then, a writer, creative, or artist, must practice their own censorship without the need to be reminded, prodded, compelled, or bounded by authority or well-meaning individual action to edit or redo a work.

 

Censorship even when voluntarily done by the writer, creatives, or artist, can deviate from the original intention and purpose of the messaging, conceptualizing, and editing of work.  But if public interest demands that a copyrighted work must be limited, to fulfill respect for sensitivities, and uphold respect for individuals on socially relevant or controversial topics, then an edit can be in order.

 

THESE ARE NO LONGER VISIBLE; WE MIGHT NEED TO REIGNITE OUR SUPPORT FOR TRAD MEDIA

These used to be mainstream media. Now printed newspapers have to be reached with far-flung efforts,

and major dailies have shied away from the streets, preferring commercial establishments to sell their stories on print.  Photo taken September 13, 2023. Copyright reserved to Anna Liza VB, the writer and blogger of this site--News Review Philippines.

 

The switch to digital media, unfortunately, made traditional media almost a rare find, like this newsstand that used to carry a number of major publications from broadsheets to tabloids. Now, a newsstand holds only a few tabloids (a smaller version of a printed newspaper), for the public to buy and read.

Newspapers in printed versions have better permanence over digital media as these are not easily editable; and can be filed and stored by the reader anytime.  Unlike digital newspapers which require technical access points to be able to peruse, read, and file. 

CONSUMER POST: NOW, IT'S SHRUNKEN PANDESAL AS WELL.

In the interest of keeping up with the rising consumer products, this writer is sharing the golden founds of products that have become so precious of late to buy.

Filipinos, update yourself with a downgrade of your usual Pandesal.

The staple Filipino breakfast food, "pandesal", which is always prepared hot and fluffy by the neighborhood "panadero" (local baker) in almost all places in the country is also facing a tough downscale moment. Go check yours being served in your local town if you have not caught up with it yet.

 

For a 2-3 peso price, this "flex" of pandesal had shrunk almost to a coin-size portion. Just thank your local "panadero", for still pursuing the business and serving this bread despite having to adjust--the pandesal, which is now smaller than a bite size.

 

For accuracy purposes, the pandesal shown here is actually around 2 to 2.5 inches when measured flat when a ruler is used. 

Consumer post for NRP, by Anna Liza VB. Copyright 2023.

 

Second Part: The Unglamorous Life of Writers

[ Read Previously] THIS IS NOT A SIMPLE FLOWCHART FOR WRITERS, PUBLISHED ON AUGUST 29, 2023.

Let’s Call Them Anonymous: A Look at How People on the Sidelines Treat People in Media

It is not easy to build a name. More so a career in media. It takes a long walk, a long drive to hit the “publish” button, whether it is for print or digital media. However, behind the work of a media writer comes countless experiences that can demoralize or de-amplify a writer’s passion for writing. Without meaning to.

First, a writer is deprived of copyright ownership in the context of employee to employer service agreement, where a company hires a writer and the latter provides willful time to serve and fulfill objectives at work.

In real industry work, a position won’t be secured by a writer without acceding to the terms bound and founded by his or her employer from the start of hiring.

The second point of this article, that’s all about the “unglamorous” life of writers, is how media workers can be disputedly "VIPd", but not really VIP in the full sense of the word.

VIP is a label mostly intended for people who hold significant positions at work, which often takes a lot of skill, training, recommendations, and approbations from others; and yes, even votes for political positions.

But for media writers, the sidelines are the main thrust of the work, hours that are not in the full regalia of camera panning and privilege signing, which has been accustomed to by celebrity VIPs.

It must be noted that writers are deprived of longevity of employment from the very start by status quo media companies who are more concerned with getting protection from the influentials and giving them positions as columnists or easy buy as media owners.

The writers meanwhile had to be content with being “contractual” or freelancers, sometimes on a temp basis, or “up for renewal” commitment.

The fault in this system is the lack of employment opportunities and future security of the writer.

A good number of writers that I know of in the past chose to find work abroad or locally, in a different industry or lured to skilled work for the promise of better workers’ benefits. Some decided to pursue scholarships while there were those who simply stayed away because industry work did not pay well. A thankless job we call it.

 

Writers are made to work long hours, in an era of supposed media proclivity for clout building.

 

It’s the status quo they don’t want to admit. Only the well-heeled are given a dignified name and a worth-it work agreement by companies.

Anecdotes of Writers

 

I was reminded of a fact that at one point, one fellow media practitioner who could not find work for a very long time, politely got a break for camera work with writing duties. But sadly, that same female media practitioner for a company with foreign vested interests as employers, in many instances, did not give her salary directly to her.    

It is her “job recommender” who acted as a middleman, so she can be hired.  He happens to be a relative of hers, who had close connections with an insider, and her salary on her behalf. 

THIS WAS LEGIT WORK FOR A COMPANY where the practitioner was treated with such informality, like a cloaked slave of her recommender, where she clocked in the hours and skills for a media company; but it is her job recommender who benefitted from the remuneration.

In another situation, a writer enthusiastically shared her articles to a now-defunct newspaper.

Her stories were published in the daily, which was all about non-news but features and women’s articles; but she did not get paid for them.

 

Upon following up on the payment for her writeups, the writer was told over phone,  “kami nga hindi nababayaran ng kumpanya, ikaw pa? Pasensya na pero walang pera ang kumpanya…” the response was given by an insider Manager. Said broadsheet stopped publication and the staff moved on to form another broadsheet.  The writer was left unpaid for her articles.

 

In a third story, was an anecdote of a former colleague, when she was a practitioner for a top media station.

She shared her many instances of being bullied, sometimes bluntly, sometimes passive-aggressively by co-workers in the station. She was sometimes heckled at and was threatened to be spitted on, just because she was a woman. Stereotyped as an “easy” woman in the station.

She was pretty calm and she knew she could not do anything about the way women were treated especially those in the lower ranks of their career.

 

Yet another, anecdote is when a writer was faulted for owning a laptop, and her colleagues chidingly and tactlessly joked about destroying her computer for the pure fun of jesting. 

She left for home and her computer refused to function hours after the joke was given her.

THESE WERE NOT MAKE-BELIEVE STORIES. But actual real incidents for writers and media practitioners in the country, who go through a hard-fought battle to stay and pursue their profession in an industry that denies them stability; longevity of work, and worker’s rights; these apart from the anonymous benign treatment they get from strangers when they go out to the field, whether in front or behind the cameras.

 

One cannot simply fault communication graduates and practitioners when it is the anonymous people, the fence sitters that help build animosity for them. These discrimination and bias start with the way media professionals are treated by the industry they must work for; whether the job is done out of pure dedication, calling, professional choice, or passion for writing.

 

News Review Philippines 2023. Copyright by Anna Liza VB.

Revised at 12:56 pm local Philippine time.

IT'S NOT JUST THE RICE GRAINS

 THE COSTS ARE STILL HIGH.

Tomatoes are not on the easy-pick aisle.

 

SITUATIONER LAS PINAS 7:45 AM: MONSTROUS TRAFFIC, BOTTLE NECK IN MAIN ROAD

JUST A DAY AFTER THE CONTINUAL RAINS IN THE METRO, AS SPOTTED IN LAS PINAS CITY, TRAFFIC HAS BEGUN BY THE WAYFARE. 

The buildup was seen this morning around 7:45- 8:00 am, with cars on a bumper-to-bumper stall, while motorcycle riders occupy half,  of the main drive space along CAA road in Las Pinas City.

 CONSUMER RIGHTS REGARDING RETURNS MUST BE SIMPLIFIED 

When buyers don’t get what they want, what is the best recourse of action?

 

 

An example of online shopping dissatisfaction is when product quality does not meet consumer expectations. The photo shows supposedly a mini-table when assembled, but can't make its way through fulfillment, because of its unsteady structure and mini-parts; hence the need to outsource a service provider to fix the item bought online.

 

EVER SINCE THE THRIVE OF E-COMMERCE, a good number of consumers probably would have thought that shopping is made easy, since now, one does not have to go outside, take a chance on the weather, make it through the snail traffic just to buy an item or load up on a grocery haul.

Admittingly, the goals of door-to-door delivery for e-commerce platforms are actually a sweet concoction of idealism and best-effort help on the economy-- to treat customers like royalty while earning profits on the side.  At least these are what can be assumed via the positioning of most e-commerce sites around the time of the pandemic.

 

But it is never without falter, remiss, or misgivings. And the fault sometimes is not in the app but in the very sellers or merchants of prestigious local shopping sites, which this writer actually has come to learn about.  

 

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

The faults in the falter, just to clarify, and be concrete about local shopping experiences, are in seizing up on the actual items received by a customer, and the way returns are handled by a merchant.

Below are the weaknesses of e-commerce shopping sites that can be attributed to their massive contact points to reach the customer and the bias of sellers in ensuring customer satisfaction when it comes to product returns and quality.

 

THE PRODUCT POSTS  DO NOT MATCH CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS. 

      Product posts from the point of view of a shopper must not only be picture-perfect but detail-oriented as possible.   But while shopping is supposed to be for the need or enjoyment of customers, some sellers, unfortunately, post products that they cannot deliver.

 

Hence sharing an example, of online shopping circumstances:  

>>>>  A shaded, tent tarpaulin order, which did not arrive, and what came instead was a t-shirt.

 

>>>> In another instance,  a shirt also came that did not fall within my order-scope, but was delivered nevertheless.

 

>>>> In another example, was an order of a mini-rice cooker but what came actually was a vague plastic part that looked like a a gadget stand.

 

>>>> Also to share another online retail experience, is when a table has been ordered from a local shopping site, supposedly a second-hand unused item that instantly crumbled once assembled, hence the need for further repair to make the ordered item functional.

 

This Is Not a Simple Flowchart for Writers

Soon in an article, the unglamorous life of writers. Beyond the gaze of the readers' swoon. Below is a flowchart teaser on the relevant article forthcoming here on News Review Philippines.

The photo above shows an insider example of how writers are exploited locally, in one or two situations, that have become commonplace whether amateur or professional, and also experienced by communication practitioners.

Chart created with Canva.

Authored by the writer, Anna Liza VB. August 29, 2023. 

Thank you.

YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THE LATEST POST, IN RELATION TO THIS CONTENT:  "The Unglamorous Life of Writers", published yesterday September 9, 2023.

To comment or send a rejoinder:  newsreviewph@gmail.com.

THE PITFALLS OF SOCIAL MEDIA YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN MISSING ON

 THE PITFALLS OF SOCIAL MEDIA YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN MISSING ON

It is totally overrated.

 

By this time about 70 to 90 million Filipinos is the number range for the actual social media users here in the Philippines alone, and the numbers can still vary and improve depending on the timeline.

 

With the way things have been, social media seems to have become the “be all and end all of media”, since the onslaught of the many challenges that taunted the industry, when media stations have closed down, while some are still struggling to survive.

 

These recent developments that have affected the media landscape, such as the shutting down of networks and companies, whether permanently or simply posturing for further ambiguity--  as modern entities of news and communication; and purveyors of entertainment, seem to have underlined its lack of boundaries or finiteness in establishing its stakes in the industry.

 

Moreso, it appears to have been forced to do a "transformation", without enough breathing space to study the normalcy of how ordinary netizens consume information on mass media.

 

Like a funnel and into a pitfall of further depthtitude, local media have become icebergs while many are blind-sighted in their solutions to survive while morphing and rebranding; testing further the possibilities of venture into other forms beyond print and broadcast.  Such is their aggressiveness to encompass other multimedia formats, shattering rattle media formalities, and making way for supreme interconnectivity.

 

There are many consequences that surround these developments. 

 

Media companies also have easy prey to the influence and clamor for further social media brazenness and ineptitude that could cloud their mission/vision and also hyper-fluctuate their unique identity in the middle of change.

 

ABS-CBN, from a distant view, had to let go of its known formula for news transmission;  and has appeared helpless, which pushed it to wallow and waddle through the murky online news streaming;  shutted to compete with countless minor players,  like a sub-channel of another media company. 

 

THIS CHANGE ALONE, ALONG WITH THE LOSS OF LOCAL TALENTS, IS NOT JUST AN ARROW SHOT  TO LIMP THE SOLID IDENTITY AND UNPARALLELED BRANDING OF THE NETWORK AS A SUPER TELEVISION NETWORK.

IT ALSO LENT CHANNEL 2 AN  IMPRESSION UNEXPECTED,  THAT IT CAN BE SUBSERVIENT TO OTHER MEDIA COMPANIES, a downgrade of sorts, AND RELEGATE ITS TOP SPOT TO CO-TEAM  WITH OTHER COMPANIES. 

               

With ABS-CBN side-swept by political pressure and trends, its powers were fainted by the dominance of social media. The exiting of companies or tapering down of broadcast; and minimalization of published pages, also signalled the birthing of many brave minor players who are eager to jump into fame or submit to the lure of having their own media companies.

 

Here lies complications for further media industry fragmentation and shift of power from the media owners and visionaries to the palm of the unskilled, ordinary, and  inexperienced information providers who want influence; or aim to domineer, dominate, or takeover an industry, without enough altruism to provide fair and balanced news reporting, and tasteful,  educated news and entertainment.

TO BE CONTINUED…

revised August 29, 2023, 6:03pm local time Philippines

MUD ADVERTISING AND ALL ABOUT THE NEGATIVE FAME

 Nothing is as compelling in the creative industry as the beauty and discipline of advertising. With it, products and updates on a market, and news about industries that matter, even advocacies and “community announcements” are propagated with words, using any printed,  electronic, or digital  media,  that holds a message to a point of value.

But advertising the way it’s meant has always been there to “serve”, be it good news,  a piece of information, or a well-intended fact from which the public can benefit from.

In recent years, along with the rise of online media, there came a slowing down of good news trumpeters. Instead, advertising became more pronounced and rather exploitative.  What came is a return to “boldness” in the way advertising is packaged.

For example, some online ads, do not merely promote and sell vantage points for new products. Some ads deviate from acceptable standards for advertising, previously disallowed by governing bodies.

A sweep read at the many frequent ads on display online these days can expose oneself to ads that hound customers with a charade of bodies and curves, closeups, and “show-all” product photos that aim to sensationalize and get attention with their own style of advertising. 

The real fault in some ads? These exploit women and models,  in such uncompromising postures enough for one to mind not the product but the model in photos.  It is not just the curves and the skin  peek that are shown in some non-mainstream, advertising, with a message loud and bold that it’s okay to flaunt.

Say in a product that must be talked about in a hush most cautious tone, the ad is graphically stated without much caution for decency and vulgarity by some advertisers and online sellers. These are blatantly common in online media and commercial sites.

Another kind of advertising that this writer would like to posit, is a seemingly innocent streamer in the community.  However, the display of tarpaulin although fraught with respect for the rights of those who have fallen from grace in a community, is also well-meant and intended, to let the public know about an erring individual.   Vagueness is not in the ideals of this kind of advertising which must be best called- mud advertising, the way it throws mud on the integrity of a person.  It is advertising if it is posted using a medium that is commonly used for advertising like what a tarpaulin is commonly used for.  And if it is situated along prominent areas where there is expected foot traffic. Moreso, tarpaulin advertising goes beyond a personal announcement and falls on the level of advertising if the message is posted more than once or twice, or with a schedule definitive of intention to get as much viewership or exposure.

                Can we consider negative news reporting as a form of advertising when it involves not just a personality but a person with business interests in the community? This is an ethical question that must be weighed by media providers which deliver the news, anyhow they can serve it for the public to partake of.

The thing with advertising these days, there has been an erasure of lines from advertising to the content, and the substance of news articles that are packaged as branded content. Because straightforward advertising  could turn off a lot of readers and sway them to stop the ad button once an ad interferes with their preferences,  advertisers have found it inevitable to repackage their products on media, and make them content-appropriate or  “content-embedded”.

What this writer also means to put forward in the open is that sometimes news and advertising have been interloped to a point of fault.  The disparity before is very pronounced. In later years, the shift in pleasing the numbers of followers has become a norm in changing the look of advertising, making these almost seamless with news and content at the forefront, while advertising seems to be at the helm of strategy.

We go back to tarpaulin advertising that carries a controversial announcement, advertisers can take caution not to overuse their intention to do good for others by using advertising as a ploy.  Or make an outcast out of an individual concern so as to diminish another’s integrity in the face of the greater community.

Mud advertising be it in the form of below-the-line advertising must not be a standard to address a competition, resolve a problem or warn about an issue that needs to be resolved with compassion and dignity.

Also, negative advertising must not be a gateway to other kinds of advertising that can disintegrate  regular standards of media normalcy so as to accept substandard advertising.

The helpless must not count on negative advertising that gives indignity or embolden others to follow suit, even if it is only meant for posterity,  to add on new followers, or bring sympathy,  and even sides for the unnoticed.