Intellectual Property and the Entertainment Industry

There are several different components that make up the Moguls in the Making program: music, art, journalism, dance, mentoring, etc. Because of this, there are several different ways that intellectual property can affect the way I, as well as my future students, currently and will in the future, conduct business.

Below I am going to discuss three separate occurrences that somehow involves intellectual property as well as relates to Moguls in the Making and the outcome of the services that the program provides.

Just recently Beyonce executed a perfect and extremely memorable performance at the Billboard awards. Some are speculating that she stole this performance from Lorella Cuccarini, an Italian pop singer who performed a similar dance sequence in 2010. The funny thing to me is that out of all of the people that are claiming Beyonce “stole” this performance, the actual singer that Beyonce got her inspiration from has no problem with it. I do think that stealing someone’s artistic expression in the form of dance can be seen as an issue of intellectual property, but if the artist has no problem with it I don’t see an issue.

This to me is unacceptable. Teachers, mentors, and professors always teach their students that plagiarism is never tolerated. Therefore, for a teacher to go and steal the exact words of his own students irritates me. In the article the teacher tries to explain that his plagiarism was unintentional, but I find that very hard to believe. This just goes to show that no matter where you are in life and who you come in contact with you always have to stay sharp and on your toes. I plan to make sure that my students know how to stay always stay on guard, but know how to properly work with people at the same time.

This instance shows complete infringement of intellectual property. PETA should have asked permission before deeming authority over parts of this film-maker’s art. It was said in the article that the film maker probably would not have granted them access to the film, but nonetheless, PETA should have followed the appropriate legal procedures to make sure this situation was handled correctly.