Journal entries from Cross Country Trip

[Mark Sedenquist]

Some fun dissolves and other fun editing techniques in those clips. Nice job.

With a HUGE caveat -- you are using music that is NOT in the public domain -- by publishing it on YouTube, you are open to being named as a defendant in copyright and trademark infrigements.

Mark

[scott5678]

Some fun dissolves and other fun editing techniques in those clips. Nice job.

With a HUGE caveat -- you are using music that is NOT in the public domain -- by publishing it on YouTube, you are open to being named as a defendant in copyright and trademark infrigements.

Mark

Thanks Mark - I was not sure exactly how the whole copyright thing worked in this aspect and I guess hoped that because it was not being used for profit or to promote anything that it would not be a big deal. Do you (or anyone else) have any knowledge of whether this has gotten anyone in trouble? If there were any action taken would it possibly start with a warning to take it down?

Thanks,

Scott

[Mark Sedenquist]

Thanks Mark - I was not sure exactly how the whole copyright thing worked in this aspect and I guess hoped that because it was not being used for profit or to promote anything that it would not be a big deal.

Scott, Under the law, anyone who reproduces the tune, lyrics or an entire song that is copyrighted is entitled to the cost of the license, everytime it is played. In essence, you have committed theft and under the law, you are entitled to no further warning. As publisher of RTA, we take an extremely dim view of anyone stealing images or concepts from RTA. I fully support the music industry's rights to protect copyrighted works (literary and music). Since you posted those stolen works on YouTube.com, you are relatively safe -- but if someone decides to sue YouTube.com, you could well be named as a co-defendant so you might want to start raising money for your defense now. I can tell you, that if you had posted that video on RTA, your membership in this Forum would have been revoked. Again, we have a very dim view of anyone who steals intellectual property from artists or writers.

We license certain elements of the creative work of RTA and we actively pursue and sue anyone who attempts to use any of our products without paying the appropriate licensing fees. The musicians who created those songs, that you are using without permission, have the same ability to find you and attempt to recover their damages.

Mark

[scott5678]

Thanks for the input Mark and I also understand if you want to take the links down for these reasons. After reading your thoughts I have a better understanding of the "letter" of the law but still curious if my use would not fall under the Fair Use Doctrine? What is your knowledge (or anyone else for that matter) regarding this. I absolutely agree with the ownership that one should retain over their creative endeavors, I guess I am just trying wrap my arms around what the "damages" are in this case. Obviously not trying to be argumentative here, just open discussion...

[scott5678]

Mark - here is a link to youtube where they made a deal with Warner to allow users to use music with no authorization or fees and sounds like they were/are going to pursue deals with other labels as well. I am still looking into it more to see if other agreements were/are being made. This is from September 2006.

[scott5678]

Here is a Washington journal entry from my brother John:

The rain has been falling for three days now. We arrived to this great dispersed camping site Monday after leaving Seattle that morning. We had clear skies, comfortable temperatures, and a spot right next to a great river. For the first few days we did nothing but relax. For we have entered the second phase of the trip. No longer do we have somewhere we have to be at a certain time. No reservations, no destinations. We have already taken full advantage of this as this is our sixth day here, longer than anywhere else we have stayed.

The river which is about fifteen feet away from our tent is incredible. There is just something about running water near your campsite that gives it a more comfortable feel. Maybe that is because of my Eastern philosophies, or possibly the sound is scientifically soothing to the tunnels of my ears, it could be that it gives some life to your current home, or maybe I just like water. There's no way to pinpoint the attraction but it always a selling point for a campsite. There is a large fallen tree which spans the river creating a natural bridge. This tree has provided a unique spot to sit above the water and relax. We find ourselves going there quite often, even just to smoke a cigarette. Underneath the flowing current lies a world I can't figure out. Ever since we arrived there has been an army of fish standing by everywhere you look. So far the most we have counted at one time, in about a 10 x 20 foot area, is a mixture of up to 30 rainbow trout and another fish whose species is unknown to us. There is always at least ten of these submersed creatures in the water depending on the time of day. They seem to be floating there waiting for the answer to life to come riding down the current in an air bubble that will hit them right on the nose. These bubbles don't seem to come, as I am sure if the bubble did contain that ever so elusive answer, the fish would figure out something to do other than float in the same place all day every day. We have greatly enjoyed sitting on our log, with the mysterious fish below our tired soles, considering the same questions.

We also had spent some time these first days gathering what was dry firewood, eating hot dogs, and cleaning up the area which has been trashed by it's previous visitors. It was very upsetting to see how much garbage was left behind at this place and we couldn't help but do some cleaning. Just the other day we gathered two garbage bags full of toilet paper, nails, bottle caps, wrappers, bottles, cans, bullet shells, ropes, and everything else you can imagine. This was all from our immediate campsite, and we had planned on walking around and clearing up the trash from the rest of the area..... Then the rain started.

Every time the rain would seem to stop, it would then begin again as if a faucet handle up in the heavens broke off in the open position. It's been like this for three long days now. Scott started to get a little sick however seems to be improving considerably after a few bottles worth of NyQuil. We have pretty much stayed holed up in the tent during the rain. It's amazing how even the shelter of a nylon tent, can seem like a mansion in the hills when amidst a barrage of falling water. Shelter can be one of those things you are so accustomed to in the city you can take it for granted. Here it's literally a life saver and you recognize that every minute you are holed up inside it's geodesic dome. I don't mind the
rain, when in the city, with permanent shelter, I actually quite enjoy it. I've been known to stand outside in it for lengths of time at work and take it all in, knowing I would soon have a warm apartment to go home and dry off in. However out here my mind is plagued with the thoughts of having to pack up and move on. We plan on leaving tomorrow and I can't say I'm looking forward to the first few hours of the morning. Everything, and I mean everything is wet and muddy,
mostly the tent. To get the tent packed up in the rain will be a dirty, grueling process. Our clothes will get trashed, the van will be declared a disaster area, and upon opening the tent at our next stop it will be saturated with water and dirt.

The rain also makes it difficult to cook and food so we've been living off pre-packaged snacks and $.79 corndogs when we head into town. The worse part is there is rain everywhere in the Northwest. Our next stop will be all but the same, over and over again. Now I don't want to sound as though I'm not enjoying my time. The rain in a sense is rather crisp and refreshing. It's extremely humbling to have to sit inside a tent all day to avoid these falling drops of water. We also drove up towards Mt Rainier yesterday and the rain quickly turned to snow. The pines were blanketed in cotton sheets of frozen water. This was quite exciting to see for us, being a couple of Phoenix boys. We had seen small amount of snow in Denali but nothing like this!

Simply but we're having an incredible time here. I would much rather be holed up inside the tent, listening to the melody of raindrops crashing above my head, than standing on the drive of the Biltmore with a twenty person taxi line and not a cabbie in sight. We will eventually be somewhere it isn't raining, the tent wil air out, and things will get cleaned. Life isn't always sunny days and warm apple pie. It's the days like this that make the clear warm days that much better!

[scott5678]

Here is my journal and some pics from the first night of our trip back on 8/5/07:

We watched inquisitively as the old beat up gold car passed our campsite for the 4th time. On a Sunday night. At 9:30pm. In a rain storm. I remember sitting on our chairs under the roll out van awning, rain pelting the canvass above us with only our feet getting wet as we stretched out, basking in the enjoyment of our first day on the road. At first we barely noticed the ex-con looking man and woman rumble by earlier in the evening, but by the fourth pass it seemed a little odd that a couple would show up this late on a Sunday night in the driving rain. As my brother and I sat in dark silence with forboding thoughts lurking in our minds we tried to make sense of our new neighbors. In case you don't know, my brother John and I just started a journey across the country in our Ford Econoline E-150 van. We have been planning our trip for over a year and quit our jobs at the begining of July to prepare for what promises to be an exciting adventure...but back to the possible serial killers who are now inhabiting the campsite next to ours. Because of the way they arrived and because they pulled in to the campsite right next to us, even though the rest of the area was almost completely empty, we decided to be better safe than sorry. I opened the back door of our van and pulled out our 16" machette which I handed to John and I grabbed my pocket knife. As the rain continued to fall we weighed our options for survival and decided upon choosing between 1 of 2 possibilities. Either we sit back, have a cigarette and realize that we are way over analyzing the situation, get in our tent and have a good first night of sleep. Or, we pack as much as we can back in the van and sleep uncomfortably in the front seats with the doors locked. We first decided that maintaining some activity around our pitch black campsite would be best to make sure they knew we were around. We then walked about 50 feet up the road in the direction of their campsite until we got close enough to hear music blaring from what seemed to be their car stereo. We hoped that with our headlamps on they would see us advancing and recognize we were a force not to be reckoned with (we hoped!). We then turned around and headed back towards our campsite when we heard their car door open and then close. With the thought of these crazed lunatics now wandering through the night we decided to pack up the van best we could and sleep within the confines of our new home on wheels. Provided all goes well through the night, I will continue this story in the morning...

[scott5678]

I was hoping the attached pictures above would appear in the post as I have seen others do. Is there a way I can change this?

Thanks,

Scott

[Mark Sedenquist]

I was hoping the attached pictures above would appear in the post as I have seen others do. Is there a way I can change this?

If they are already online someplace, you can use that photo image tool above. I think you are already using a photo sharing site?