While digital technology broadens the horizon for Creatives in more way than one, it also brings one major problem to the table – authorship. Although digital technology has increased authorship by allowing more people to produce work, either by creating original pieces or by remixing other work, it also has created a very fuzzy line that many people either unknowingly or consciously cross. It’s much easier to take someone’s work from the Internet than to copy it from a book, or to record it from a CD. I myself am very guilty of “stealing from Google” as I call it. At my internship though, I conduct photo research and spend my workday requesting photos and photo credits of images that could just as easily be taken from the Internet. Doing this had made me more understanding of copyright laws and the importance of the creator retaining their authorship.
Access to technology is a commonality for most. But, take a look at Philadelphia. The digital divide is expanding all the time. Half the city is walking around with iPhones, iPads, smartphones, iPods (wow, does Apple own everything or what?) and the other half don’t even know how to use a computer. I’m not just talking homeless people here. I’m talking seniors, poor folks, unemployed, minorities, etc. Luckily, projects are in the works. Drexel University is helping to bring thousands of computers to residents of the Philadelphia Housing Authority this year. But, the numbers are still up there and as the digital divide widens, the problems heighten. Digital technology has only decreased access to technology, among other things, for those on the other side of the divide.
Digital technology has perhaps stunted cultural production in our society in some ways. We have to ask ourselves – can we really produce anything original anymore? Isn’t everything we come up with somehow derived from an original work, or even a remixed work? While this argument can probably be applied to any work produced even before digital technology came about, I think it is much more severe in terms of digital technology. Our own creativity is hindered by the accessibility we have to others’ work.
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