vidTO: Torontris

  • Posted by Ryan C
  • Filed in City
  • November 27, 2007


Youtuber Julian Cardozo's nifty Toronto-Tetris mashup video found its way into the blogTO Youtube Pool. Sure, it doesn't display much technical mastery of Adobe Aftereffects, but it's his first try with the software so I can forgive him. Afterall, it's Alexey Pajitnov's genre-defining game getting busy with Toronto's skyline! That lovely Korobeiniki tune has been stuck in my head for almost 20 years now!

What's kinda dumb is that he says the flick's copyright is owned by Ryerson. Dude, no it isn't. You made it (The Tetris Company LLC's rights notwithstanding), not Ryerson. If Ryerson demands that the copyrights of all works from its students be attributed to the school, then tell'em to go eff themselves in the ear.

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Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwesome.

Posted by: Matt at November 27, 2007 10:42 AM

Interestingly enough, (C) and (c) are actually not acceptable copyright marks in Canada, though they are legally binding in other jurisdictions. "Copyright", "copyright" and ? are usable here.

I think it's just a misunderstanding of how to state copyright ? "I submitted this for a Ryerson course in 2007, copyright me."

Posted by: Jordan at November 27, 2007 11:39 AM

Ack, those ?s are supposed to be the c-in-a-circle.

Posted by: Jordan at November 27, 2007 11:53 AM

Also, you don't need to state that a work is copyrighted for it to actually be copyrighted.

And, for future reference everyone, just hold ALT and type 0169 in that order to get the ? symbol. If it turns into a "?" it's just the backend misinterpreting the type; there are html markups for it as well.

Posted by: Ryan C at November 27, 2007 11:57 AM

^^^lol. You can also type shift+/ to get the ? symbol.

Posted by: J at November 27, 2007 12:16 PM

Ok, I'm all in favour of "fair use" and that hippie Creative Commons stuff as the next guy, but sorry to tell you that all universities have this legally binding agreement (that you sign when you register as a student) that all work you produce as part of your curriculum will be the property of the school. It sucks, but such is student life.

If you have a really novel idea, best to hold off until you're finished school, or produce it on your own time. It's the exact same when you're out in the working world, but it will be a bit of a slippery slope if you're producing content/IP that may be considered a conflict of interest with the work you're doing.

Posted by: Adam at November 27, 2007 12:47 PM

"Hippie CC stuff"? Adam, you're sounding a bit like me!

I can tell you that I retained copyright on all work I produced while a student at Concordia University in Montreal. Such lingo is pretty wide and open for interpretation, and I'd wager that unless the contracts go into details regarding work for hire, a student could get out of anything if it had to be pursued.

I dunno. I ain't go into the details of Ryerson contracts I've never read, but it's still a shame to see that credit.

Posted by: Ryan C at November 27, 2007 12:59 PM

I fail to understand what intellectual property rights and Creative Commons licencing have to do with the 1960s subculture movement. :P

Posted by: J at November 27, 2007 1:06 PM

My copyright agreement with York U's department of film and video was pretty clear: I retain copyright of all my work but was required to put a "produced at York University Department of Film & Video", with the copyright date, in the end credits of all of my productions.

That was '95-'99, though, and times have undoubtedly changed in the YouTube world.

Posted by: Matt at November 27, 2007 1:16 PM

copyright or not, everyone can tell ryerson to "eff themselves in the ear". The school is responsible for conceding all development rights, and thereby any leverage for a better, more useful, less-commercially-whoring building that is the metropolis. what about an improved subway connection? NAW, the area doesnt need one of those. It needs a behemoth advertising mass designed by morons. They just hired KPMB to do a master plan for their new campus. SO expect more blights in the yonge dundas areas soon, compliments of the university-cum-bachelor-degree-department-store.

eff ryerson in the ear.

Posted by: disgruntled student jt at November 27, 2007 2:42 PM

I wholly and fully agree that they need to be eff'd in the proverbial ear, and of course was being facetious with the hippy CC thing (though I will say that the 'fair use' argument is getting a little tired).

That's good to know certain arts-focused schools are being somewhat lenient with IP. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure a large majority of schools, including Guelph, possibly York, and UofT are all very heavy-handed about this.

A prime example is a thesis I developed in my final year at Guelph-Humber (hybrid university/college thing) - it was developed under the supervision of a faculty member, and we were pushing to get disclosure application on it when I left (the early stages before patent application). Had the patent ever gone through, it would be under mine and the professor's name, associated with the school.

Posted by: Adam at November 27, 2007 3:10 PM

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