I have just posted my first proper article for my inquiry post. My intention for this article was to make it a reference post for future articles on copyright. I plan to make even more after this class, so I will update it as I introduce more concepts in later articles. In other words, this article is a glossary of concepts instead of a more contemporary scholarly publication.
When it came to using Substack’s software, I really enjoyed how free and open the tools were, allowing me to create my own format for the article. Whenever I’ve written before, it’s only ever been in the context of a paper for a school or a script for a screenplay. My experience with the DramaQueen software for screenplays was helpful, as writing a screenplay requires a clear distinction between a line of dialogue, an external camera motion, and a description of the environment, each with its own specific setting to create distinction. Substack offers similar tools for creating captions for images, interactive hyperlinks and footnotes, and for highlighting specific quotes with a unique subsection. My testing with the Arcane article was also very beneficial when creating my real article. Being able to go back and edit the Arcane article after already posting it helped me publish the copyright glossary without worrying about not being able to fix any issues later. Looking at my article now, I can already see parts I can expand on and add to in future articles. While it is not at the final part of its evolution, I am very happy with what I have posted at the time of writing.
In regards to the actual contents and research of the article, I think it achieved the goal I set for this specific article. Diving into the stories of the McDonald’s golden arches, the existence of “Twin Movies” such as White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen, and a lawsuit that I plan to expand upon in another article which will be a collection of important legal decisions related to intellectual property rights created a good starting point for curious creatives to begin understanding how to protect their works. Researching these concepts was very interesting, especially learning that America and Canada use different names for what seems to be the same legal ruling: Fair Use and Fair Dealing, respectively. I know for sure that my next article, which will tackle important legal rulings throughout history, will also address any differences between the two, if any. I also want to expand upon the lawsuit I mentioned earlier, which was Buchwald Vs. Paramount, as it seems very important that an unpublished draft of a script was held in high enough regard that it beat a company as powerful as Paramount in a court of law. Any lawsuits that clearly reference the impact of the court decision would also be worth my time researching.
I feel quite happy with my progress with this project so far, and I do believe that this is something I would be more than happy to keep contributing to and adding to in the foreseeable future. I look forward to my next Inquiry post, where I will display my next article, which will display specific examples of intellectual property rights lawsuits and legal events.