Intellectual Property

I remember back in middle school and especially high school that my english teachers and sometimes an outside source brought into the classroom would take a whole class period up talking about plagiarism when writing papers, copyrights and other forms as well. Every time we would have these "lessons", never did they get much into IP. The fact that it is not taught well in schools is bad for the general public. With the further evolution of the digital world more issues are appearing that concern IP, such as Fairey's "HOPE" poster.

While reading the articles, I really got into what the critics were saying about IP. The implicit term is too broad, almost to the point of being invisible. When I was reading it, it just seemed that the law seems like a bunch of different laws put together in a mixing bowl and became IP. It would be a lot easier if it was separated so it was not as abstract.

For a designer, this law should be confusing and annoying as well. Designers are always using other creations as inspiration for their own designs. Just like Sarah said, anything that designers, or anyone for that matter, do anything on the internet could technically be considered illegal. Instead of asking questions of should it be considered? How far is far / where's the line drawn? The law should just clearly state what is and is not so that is it is clear to everyone, designer or not.