Moar borg meme

[mellymell]

• Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile."


• I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity


• Update your journal with the answers to the questions


• Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions

1. What are your thoughts on intellectual property law, in particular in how it relates to and impacts costuming and jewelry making?

Wow, I tend to defer this topic as though it were religion or politics. I'm pretty conflicted on it to the point of not even wanting to think about it. Really, I feel it comes down to a medium by medium and industry by industry basis and I even further split it into the size and scope of the project.

As for movie replica costuming, I don't believe that any of us are making enough of an impact for the movie industry to be concerned in the least. If anything, we might even be considered a form of marketing. There have been more than a few movies I've seen (and even suffered through) just to see and drool over the costumes because I saw someone recreate one or even just put up a study page on one or more of them. In all cases, these are movies I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise.

A grey area is entered into when discussing people who make unlicensed replica costumes and props to sell. I separate further to divide mass producers from smaller operations (custom made to order stuff). I tend to kind of look down on the mass producers, but not so much the small time handmade pieces. Again, I feel the market supports the latter and in most cases, I don't think it's taking any money from the hands of the original designers or the film makers. From a legal stand point, I believe both cross a line. It's one of those things where I don't agree with it, but it's the law.

On non-movie replicas, I've seen utterly ridiculous claims on costuming communities about "so-in-so stole my fairy wing design and is selling them in their own Etsy store now". My knee-jerk reaction is, "so what? There's kind of a limited scope on fairy wings and it's not like yours are the most original thing I've ever run across." Of course, the artisan in me wants to sympathize with them and thinks, "well, they did spend a lot of time and effort working up the design and probably went through a lot of trials trying to get them to work right." But really, I don't care enough to defend the original in most cases. If it's ever done to me, I might feel differently. But I kind of have an ingrown feeling that if you put something out in public, there's a good chance someone is going to take it and call it their own. It's the hazard one assumes when putting themselves out there and I don't have the energy or desire to be a watchdog.

As a jeweler, well, that last little bit above pretty much sums up how I feel about it. Personally, I wouldn't get all up in arms about someone copying my designs. But then, I don't claim to be doing something so unique that there aren't a thousand other jewelers out there doing something similar already. Right now, I'd be pretty hard pressed to even prove that someone stole one of my designs even if I did care.

But there have certainly been cases that swayed me in the other direction. In almost all of them, it's a larger business with deeper pockets stealing designs from a smaller business that has to resort to fund raising to fight the legal battle. The legal battle is almost always initiated by the larger company. So, in most cases my feelings can probably be boiled down to large vs. small operations and how much they impact each other's business and their overall reactions to the situation. If an artisan or company generally act like asshats through the process, I'm probably not going to side with them no matter how right they are.

And this is why I've never had the least bit of an interest in a litigious field. ;)

2. What single event has had the greatest impact on your life and why?

Probably my mother's death. I felt like I had to grow up really quick at the age of 14. In more ways than I can count, it's shaped who I am now and who I've been in years past. I can't even imagine who I would be had she lived, really. I'm sure not all of the differences would be positive either. She did a lot for all of us and it can be argued that she did too much. I never had to do my own laundry or dishes and it was rarely expected that my room be tidy. I had to learn those things pretty quickly after her death because my dad just couldn't do it all and work full time, too. This past May I crossed the point where I've lived more years without her than with her. I could go into a long list of speculations on how I feel it's altered me forever, but well, I'm already over 800 words with three questions to go. ;)

3. What kind of chocolate do you prefer?

Dark. The higher the percentage of cocoa solids the better. The addition of crystallized ginger or chili peppers makes me exponentially happier. But I'm not a chocolate fiend. I don't have chocolate cravings or anything. I don't have much of a sweet tooth (hence the preference for very dark, bitter chocolates).

4. Do you have a plan for the coming apocalypse?

I have a lot of apocalyptic dreams, so it's always in the back of my mind, though I'm not overly paranoid about it. But there's probably an underlying reasoning behind my wanting to be in the middle of nowhere with lots of our own land and guns and solar panels which is inspired by my dreams. That said, I don't have a solid plan, but as just mentioned, lots of land, reliable water source, guns, solar panels, etc. I already grow some food every summer, but I'd expand that and probably include some chickens and goats as well (both meat and milk goats). I remember specifically a period of recurring dreams which suddenly made me want to take up bow hunting. It's on my list of "somedays".

5. Can you juggle?

Tasks? Absolutely! Hobbies? Most certainly! Having a life with having a kid and running a household? I do fairly well. Objects? Nope. There was a short period where I was trying to learn and was able to briefly juggle three objects. But I've never been interested enough to pick it up again or try harder.

Comments

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

1. That is such a minefield, as you say. It's also tricky like in so many other creative fields, because I'm sure there is more than one person in the world who have had similar ideas. There are only so many motifs out there.

2. Aw, I'm sorry - I didn't know you lost your Mom so young. It is weird to think about having been longer without her than with her. :-(

3. Dark chocolate is the best. I think I don't like anything much over 75-80% though. I definitely do have a sweet tooth, but milk is just not chocolately enough for me. Unless it's really good milk chocolate I'll almost always leave it rather take it. :-)

4. How about Zombie Apocalypse? :-)

[mellymell.livejournal.com]

1. In writing, I think of that lawsuit against Stephenie Meyer for basically having a wedding night described in her book (or something of that nature). There really is nothing new under the sun and the likelihood of another person coming up with similar ideas is too great to get up in arms about it. I think ego plays a big role in these lawsuits. People must think they're so clever that no one else could have possibly imagined the same thing at some point.

2. It is weird to think about it and honestly, I didn't until about September or November. It just suddenly occurred to me that this past May marked 14 years since her passing.

3. I've had some Dagoba bars in the 90% range that were quite enjoyable. Very brittle and not the least bit creamy but very good and chocolaty. I'm the same way with milk chocolate. It has to be very, very good to impress me and I'll usually just pass Hershey's or something by without a second thought. If I'm going to ingest the fat and calories, it better freakin' be worth it!

4. I think I'd react the same way. Something about civilization falling apart makes me feel like isolation is the best solution for survival. Screw the mall! If I had a good supply hold (i.e. plenty of ammo and food and water), I think we could defend 10-20 acres fairly well. I'd just build a sniper post on top of the house and shoot anything that shuffles. ;) Land mines might not be a bad idea either. The farther away from any sort city or town our land is, the better. Most of the zombie lore I know of doesn't mention them traveling very far away from civilization. Though I guess natural rules of species would force some of the "smarter" ones to travel outwards as food supplies were depleted (i.e. braaaaaaains).

And. . . I've thought about this way too much. ;)

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

1. Yeah, or a vampire. Or even a wizard school. It really isn't new. It's what you specifically do with it. And I think you're exactly right with what you said about ego. Dead on, in fact.

3. Yes, exactly! Hershey's milk is not worth it unless I am really really deperate! I'll have to look into these Dagoba bars. :-)

4. LOL

[malachus.livejournal.com]

1. http://www.spiderrobinson.com/melancholyelephants.html