Copyright: Good or Evil?

Copyright: Good or Evil?

Ridolfo and Rife delve into a case study that questions the ethos of a Michigan State University student’s photo remediation and rhetorical velocity (the strategic concept of delivery where the rhetor speculates the possibilities of the recomposition of a text depending on how he or she thinks the text will be used in the future). Maggie's story entices the audience to confront controversial issues of rhetorical appropriation and copyright in terms of ethics and intellectual property. The implications for using intellectual property are undoubtedly connected to rhetorical theory and the delivery of a text. This text highlights the ways in which copyright is perceived and the ways that perception needs to change. Copyright law is more than just a limiting regulation, it is also a means for rhetorical creativity to exist.

In "Plagiarism and Promiscuity, Authors and Plagiarisms", we learn that issues of plagiarism and appropriation vary depending on power, status, and hierarchy. "As Martin's taxonomy makes clear enough, the designation of plagiarism has at least as much to do with where you reside in a power structure as it does with whether you did or did not present someone else's text as your own” (Wiebe 34). Plagiarism becomes a rhetorical grey area when considering the idea that there is no original thought. Any text, whether it is written or spoken, references other texts or occurrences, cultures, and languages. In this way, plagiarism is basically untraceable, but the substance of texts, and everything that has ever been said, can be considered plagiarism. Most of our thoughts and utterances are secondhand, adopted from another outside source, and conveyed by the plagiarist with assurance that the thought began with them. 

No text exists that was not created by a blend of knowledge ascertained by earlier works. This idea relates to Maggie’s controversial issue with MSU using her photo on their website and promotional texts. Her photo influenced and inspired the creators of those later texts, and left a mark on history and creativity that cannot be denied or deemed as plagiarism. Her moment in the snow later served as the focal point in the remix of new thought and creativity that was unavoidably influenced by the past.



https://campus.fsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-6800561-dt-content-rid-38256208_2/courses/ENC4404-0001.fa14/ridolfo_courant_rhetorical_velocity.pdf

https://campus.fsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-6800560-dt-content-rid-38256207_2/courses/ENC4404-0001.fa14/wiebe_plagiarism_promiscuity.pdf