Paid to Tweet?

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1925991,00.html

This is an article I read in Time Magazine about Twitter. It explains how more and more companies are paying everyday people to "tweet" about their product on their personal account. I thought it brought up an interesting point: "Paid tweeting also raises questions about disclosure: If someone speaks highly about a product on Twitter, don't followers have a right to know if that messenger is a compensated mouthpiece?"

So this isn't entirely pertinent to our class but it is interesting.

Also- in class we were discussing how long we think Twitter may stick around. I found this statistic in my husband's Graphic Design USA magazine: "Nielsen Online reports that more than 60% of Twitter users in a given month do not return to the site the following month; some months 70% abandon the service." The article went on to explain, "The Nielsen folks speculate that we may be experiencing a fad, and one reason is lack of meaningful content." However, part of me wonders if the short postings are perfect for a society whose attention span collectively keeps shrinking. In journalism, articles are forced to become more concise- why wouldn't the same brevity be applied to our social networking habits?

We are Wizards

While searching through documentaries on NetFlix, I found a movie that followed Harry Potter zealots entitled "We are Wizards." Halfway through, I realized it was extremely pertinent to our class readings because it started concentrating on the copyright issues that were taking place between fans and Warner Bros. In fact, the author, Henry Jenkins, had a few cameo interviews.



After seeing the movie, I couldn't help but wonder how all this copyright pishposh could possibly seep into the classroom. Say, for example, I start teaching middle school and assign my students a video project after they read a Harry Potter book. Now, what if after the class, they post that video to youtube and somehow get in trouble with the Warner Bros. guys. Could I, as the teacher, possible face any legal charges?

I guess this is a stretch, but I am just curious of how all the copyright laws are stated. Does anyone have knowledge in this area?