Week 9 EOC "Letters of Permission"

For this assignment I looked online for a few templates and found that the instructions seems a little confusing so I combined that with an image of a mock template of a letter of someone asking permission to use a image or a text in their article.  These two combined together made it easier to write my own changing their text and placing in my own while keeping to the worded template of the other sites.  For my personal letters of permissions that I used were first and foremost the Permission to use Artwork. For me this situation is very presently occurring due to the fact that for one of my advanced drawing classes I redid images from original works. I used a different medium and changed some of the works slightly but as a whole they are still that artist original work.  My other instructors tell me that as long as I credit the original artist then I am fine or calling it by a different considering that it was a class project and that I will be making not profit from its use on my site.  But none the less I figured that it was important to think about having just in case of some issues down the road. The next letter I chose to make was for the Permission to use music.  With having my demo reel using a song the entire way thorough as well as the animations inside of them having other sound clips I felt that is was important to think about having on had, once again just in case something came up further down the road.  One next two that did and didn't necessarily apply to me directly.  These involved putting images and text from someone else in your posting to a blog. Knowing that blogs are public space and that anyone can view them with ease.  I wanted to be sure that if I or someone else was to use a quote or an image taken from another site that they did so lawfully. In which case the original artist would be site and referenced to in my site so that there was no confussion to who had done what. That I was the writer and distributor of the article but some of it's context and images were from another source entirely.

Your Own Argument and Opinion

Having talked with a lawyer I feel that they knew what they were talking about. Having done my studies from the class I was prepared and had in minor stand figured out what actions to take, but after speaking to them and having them provide additional information to my questions it was no doubt they understood the law for copyright and intellectual property “Intellectual property refers to products of human intellect that have commercial value and that receive legal protection.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 4.  I can honestly say that I aside from one facet of the conversations, I agreed with everything they said. My one and only confusion on the copyright law is that I understand the work-for-hire (“Under the Copyright Act, an “original work of authorship” encompasses, with a few exceptions, any type expression independently conceived of by its creator” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 302. “Copyright Act of 1976: This comprehensive federal statute governs copyright protection for original works of authorship created after January 1, 1978.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 235.) but does that mean that if you created something on your own time using your own tools and resources that whatever work you created regardless of its content would belong to your employer. It’s a head scratcher to me for sure. Perhaps one day when I sign my own contract with a company I will get to ask that exact question. Phillip was very informative about the telling me about working under an alias also know as a pseudonym “A “pseudonym work” is one on which the author is identified under a fictitious name. . . The copyright will last 95 years.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 318.  The difference between and idea and an expression of that idea and what copyright actually protected. “It is important to understand, however, that copyright law protects only the expression itself- not the underlying facts, ideas, or concepts.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 234. As well as what steps to take to protect my works by sending them to a third party and having them saved and timestamped for me as well as to register for the copyright “Under the Copyright Act of 1976, aboriginal work of authorship gains copyright protection Th. Instant it becomes fixed in a tangible form this means that such protection is available for both published and unpublished works.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 234.  And when it comes to postings on blog with a mixture of my own original images and text as well as being combined with others that my arrangement and placement as well as the original content was covered “Any work of authorship that is not protected under copyright law is said to fall within the public domain.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 319. And even if you are working with friends it’s just good business sense to have everyone sign certain agreements like the nondisclosure agreement (“The term “nondisclosure agreement” is often used interchangeably with “confidentiality agreement” or “NDA”.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 550. “This is a legalese for written promise by an employee not to compete with his or her employer, or take employment with a competing business, for a specified length of time after the employer-employee relationship ends.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 528.) so that everyone is protected regardless our relationship to one another. As well as if you are putting your work out there it’s just lazy not to take the simple and easy steps (“Any unauthorized use of a copyrighted work that violates the copyright owner’s exclusive rights in the work constitutes as infringement.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 237.) to protect you and your work.

Rule of Law

Phillip A. Kantor and Steven Caloiaro in the Rule of Law were to my opinion correct. They were able to answer my questions easily and  with authority. For my first question about an animated “short” and how it would be protected, they advised me the idea itself was not protected saying that “Ideas are as free as the air we breathe”. Rather what is protected is the expression of that idea that is protected by copyright law. Phillip used the example of the Story of Romeo and Juliet, saying that the idea is world know and that the individual expression is the part that is protected.  Steven’s point was that Copyright protection subsists in original, works of authorship, fixed in any tangible medium. And that the protection and the copyright would be created when the work was finished. “In short, practically any type of expression that can be fixed in a tangible medium of expression is eligible for copyright protection, assuming it is original and has a least some creativity. It is important to understand, however, that copyright law protects only the expression itself---not the underlying facts, ideas, or concepts.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 234 . I followed by asking about work-for-hire.  Phillip described that for me the terms would be laid out in the contract and that each one would be different from studio to studio.  As well that a typical work-for-hire contract is one that you work inside the studio and they supply you with all the things you need to complete the project. Then any product produced belongs to the company, but if you are contracted meaning that you work from your own studio and use your own supplies then anything else created will belong to the author/artist.  Steven wrote that the circumstances in which a work is considered a “work made for hire” is determined by the ‘United States Act of 1976’.  “Copyright of a work made for hire belongs either to the party who commissioned it or the party who employed the creator, not the party who created it.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 340. Then I asked, what should my first move be to protect my works.  They seemed to have a conscious on this that as soon as the work is in a tangible medium (written in hand or on a computer). Then you apply for the copyright by downloading the forms, just Thirty_five dollars online to process the forms. After the work is completed you will receive the copyright. “To register a work with the U.S. Copyright Office, the author must deposit the best edition of the work with the application.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 217.  I followed by asking about working under an alias or pseudonym (fictitious name).  Phillip had advised that when you file for the copyright you fill out the form with your original name so that the copyright is in your name and then you tell them that you will be printing in under an alias name and let them know what that name is as well.  “Copyright law protects an author ow publishes a work under a pseudonym almost as well as they do an author who uses his or her real name. . . 95 years for a pseudonymous work, instead of the author’s life plus 70 years for an author-identified work.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 318. For my question about how blog contents could be protected, Phillip first advised me that it would have to original.  And that even if some of the text and images were not of your own creation that the arrangement of them on the blog would be protected as well as any of your own original text. “Any public work of authorship that is not protected under copyright law is said to fall with in the public domain, This means that anyone can use the work without obtaining permission from the author or the author’s heirs.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 319. I had then asked what step should I take if I believed my intellectual property was being infringed. Phillip told me that I should consult with counsel to see what I actually owned and was public domain or even what belonged to someone else property altogether. Then he would counsel from there. He had also informed me that there was the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for works that were strictly on the web.  “This federal statute address a number of copyright issues created by the use of the Internet.  Among other things, it outlaws attempts to get around processes, methods, or devices that limit copying of copyrighted works. ” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 251.  I had then asked about working with other people and if the group broke up into two how would our intellectual property be protected.  Phillip reminded me once again that it was the expression that was protected not the idea and following with that some judges believe the ‘the idea and the expression are so intertwined that they can not be separated’ depending on the work at hand. And that if it was bought to court that they would look at the ‘access’ meaning that they would look at the relationship between the two parties. Steven said that this is when a Non-Disclosure Agreement or a Non-Compete Clause would come into play, providing that you signed one.  “A nondisclosure agreement is a legally binding contract in which a person or business promises t treat specific information as a trade secret and not to disclose the information  to others without roper authorization. . . Is often interchangeably with “confidentiality agreement”.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 550.  I followed by asking about producing a ‘Short’ and how to protect my intellectual property or for better understanding my expression. Phillip told me to see counsel and find out what was the story about and finding that if it was an original work, this way I knew what would be protected and what was mine. He then had said to go to www.trustafi.com which is a third party entity that houses a digital copy of my work for a minor fee of course and they will also provide and time stamp show the date of which I saved my work. He then said finally I should register for the copyright by filling out the forms and paying the thirty-five dollar fee. So I followed up with a similar question about having produced a short animated film and was going to send it to a film festival what should I do to protect it, but after hearing the answer to my previous questions I had already known the answer. He laughed and said yes to follow the same steps as previously stated and that not doing that was just being plain lazy. Steven’s answer added to that saying that the copyright will not prevent the theft, but allow you a legal remedy.  “Authorship embodies a certain minimum level of creativity and originality. But as long as a particular expression has been independently arrived at, it need not be original is the sense of “new”.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 302.

Reasoning of Law

Phillip A. Kantor was very professional over the phone and listened to my questions carefully before answering. As stated in a previous post he is an intellectual property lawyer. I had also chose questions that I had an idea of the answer too and some that I did not, just so that I could personally see where thinking was coming form. He answered all my questions easily and very precise using terms I had learned from the book and some I hand’t like ‘Evidentiary Issue’, court cases, copyright laws like the Digital Millennium Act (“The DMCA is often used by angry copyright claimants seeking to have an ISP remove infringing works under its “notice and takedown” procedures.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 252.) and even some quotes from judges. The one I enjoyed the most was a court judge that said “Ideas are as free as the air we breathe.” “The more factual in nature the original work, the more similar the second work can be without infringement occurring” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 280. As well as explaining the difference in words that are used when working with intellectual property in ‘stories’ almost referring to animated illustrated or written. Some of my questions as we went through almost repeated themselves after having had him answer the previous ones, but he was patient all them same, while referring to his previous statements or giving another example that would help me understand the idea a little better. Phillip A. Kantor understood the legality of my questions and concerns and answered them with authority.

Week 8 EOC "Bratz Brawl"

With this Mattel Inc vs MGA Entertainment Inc. over the Bratz looking like Barbie or in its essence Bratz dolls being the edgy Barbie. 'U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, California, yesterday awarded MGA $85 million in punitive damages and $2.5 million in fees and costs for its trade-secret theft claims against Mattel.' posted at bloomberg.com news. These company already have so much money why even bother with that stand on the infringement? Why not just get the court to stop letting them sell the Bratz dolls in the first place? My personal opinion on the matter is that i understand that allegedly at least four former Mattel employees,  disguised themselves to gain access to competitors' show rooms at toy fairs. I also understand that what they stole was valuable marketing strategies and pricing, and I am sure that this is all protected by the MGA Entertainments copyright, and I can see why they aren't going after those individual people when they could sue a larger company. But to me having grown up on barbie to me the Bratz dolls were something completely different. Again I don't believe those dolls were out when I was still playing, but now working at a place that sells toys the "Barbie" isle is an entire row at the store verses the "Bratz" section is only a four foot section and just to clarify there are (depending on the isle) six, four foot sections to an isle. Let alone the Barbie isle has big pick sign and displays and the Bratz isle has one little sign. But I guess if they have created a demand for it then I can see that even if there is a smaller section then the consumers will buy and find no matter what.  "SANTA ANA, California (Nichola Groom) - Mattel Inc, after waging a seven-year legal war against a tiny California company, swallowed a surprise defeat on Thursday after a U.S. jury decided that MGA Entertainment Inc is the rightful owner of the once-billion dollar line of pouty-lipped Bratz dolls." says the Huff Post Business.  I think this was an obvious win.  To me a consumer and a sales rep they are nothing alike. And although the idea maybe the same the expression of the dolls themselves are very different. But this is were the niceties ends. "The jury found Mattel misappropriated trade secrets from MGA and awarded MGA $88.5 million in damages. The jury also decided MGA had interfered with Mattel's contract with designer Carter Bryant, but awarded only $10,000 in damages to Mattel." also says the Huff Post Business.  This part for a company to act like this is disrespectful let alone illegal.  In the end I'm glad it's finally over for good. No more dispute, allegations and infringements (I hope).

Week 8 BOC: Progress in Getting a Lawyer

At first I had so issues getting in touch with anyone last week. I had fellow co-workers of my family that were married to or related to someone that was a lawyer, but they seemed to have fall through very easily. I don't know if it was because of my relationship and how I found out about them. Needless to say they we less inclined to help than those who where a cold call situation. This morning I made two contacts. Both contacted through emails and the one Steven Caloiaro is an attorney who practices mainly in intellectual property litigation including copyright. Steven is talking to me through email because of a hectic schedule so I emailed him my questions this afternoon. The other Philip A. Kantor  of his own law firm in North Las Vegas is  practicing in copyright and advertising law as well as intellectual property.  I have a phone conference with Mr. Kantor at 3pm today.  I already have my questions ready for the phone conversation between Mr. Kantor and myself so that I can stay to the point and not take up to much of his time.   I decided to go with both of them for now concerned that if I chose one over the other one may back out and I don't want to find myself in a situation that I go from having made contact with a lawyer to not having one at all.  Also the up side is that I have made two connections to intellectual property and copyright lawyers, in hopes that one may have more incite into some part of intellectual property and copyright law that the other did not know about.
 

The Questions

The questions for me seemed to be the easiest part.  I asked questions that would effect me either presently or in the future.  My questions were directed at my intellectual property and those that I would either work for or if cutting out on my own, how would I protect them from someone else coming in and stealing my ideas, designs and animations.  So I asked simple questions that I believed headed straight to the point. 1. If some fellow animators and I were to create a “Short” animated film and we put it on the internet to get some hype. How would that be protected form someone else/company from stealing our creative idea and expression?  This question was directed at the fact that some friends and I had talked that while waiting for work we would create our own shorts and animations so that we could keep practicing and adding to our reels. 2. If I was working for an animation studio/company and I created a character and a story for a book, graphic novel or short animation; would these creations be my own property or would they belong to the company that I worked for?  This was generalized to working for someone, because I have heard that depending on your contract to your employer that your ideas may not belong to you while employed with them. A very scarey notion to a creative person. 3. If was to write a book/novel what would you suggest the first move I make to protect my IP form being stolen?  This was to my other passions of life and some ideas I have for my future endeavors. 4. If I was at first to write or animate under an alas name how would I go about doing this and how would my IP be protected?  I had once heard in my ealy years that when particularly a painter comes out that they some times us another name to have their art under this way if their works aren't received well they don't tarnish their own name. 5. If I was writing a blog and my name was attached to it how would my IP be protected by copyright?  This one is for this class in general I figured it would be a good basic question to ask, having already known the answer to it. I can perceive the knowledge of the lawyer. 6. What steps should a person take when they believe that their IP is being infringed upon?  This being generalized to one of the earlier questions, that is to say if I did the proper steps and someone still attempted to steal my work what steps should I take to stop this. 7. If a group of animators were working on an animation/concept and two chose to break off and started working on the same idea on their own. How would the original groups IP be protected?  This question was related to the fact of what happened between Disney and Pixar when they first split and the lead animator took the animators with him and opened up his own company, but obviously in a smaller scale situation. 8. If my name, first and last. Was the same as someone else, when I began to publish works how could I protect my name and my IP from being defamed? This was a question designed so that if someone else had my name that I would be protected from them and their trials of life. 9. When you are self producing a book or animation short, what legal advice would you give to that person to ensure that their IP is being protected, as they are not represented by an agent or publication company?  This is in the case of self producing works, that is not having a sponsor or agent to help you through the legal hoops of the industry. 10. If I was to create a short animated film that would pay at different film festivals, how would I protect my IP from being taken by one of the viewers?  This is because I have every intention to producing short works that I would send to film shows and the like and curious on how the animation is protected.  I believe that my questions are perfect for my future as an animator.

Legal Authority

Finding a lawyer was a difficult task for me. I had references to lawyers, that were once colleges of people that I knew or a friends family member that worked for a firm. But it seemed no-one either had the time or wanted to hand out legal advice for free.  Even knowing that I was a student, them seemed all indifferent to help. Finally I managed to get two responses, and I decided to use them both. I figured that two heads were better than one. I called and talked with Phillip A. Kantor on the phone asking my questions and taking notes as quickly as I could and I also emailed my questions to Steven Caliaro from Watson Rounds. Both were excellent candidates for answering my questions because they both work in intellectual Property. They were also timely and courteous to my needs and questions.  To my surprise talking to Phillip A. Kantor on the phone wasn't difficult at all he spoke clearly and his logic was easy enough to follow having read the definitions already. I've sent both thank you emails showing my appreciation for their time and expertise. 

Week 7 EOC "Plans"

My plans for completing this final assignment are to compile my 10 questions and making sure that they are relevant to my major and my future aspirations. As to my independent works as an animator and artist, group works with fellow animators and artist as well as my professional works in the industry.  I will also post on Facebook and text a few people that I know who know someone that works in a law office or has a lawyer.  Then I will take that information and begin to call these lawyers and ask them if they would be willing to answer a few questions for me.  From this I can choose when to meet or make an appointment over them phone or if they are available to answer them right away I can do so as well. This will set me up to write the first blog post Legal Authority. Where is write how I found them and my over all opinion of them and their ability to feed me the correct information.  I will also be able to write the blog post Questions. Where i write about the questions that I have written to be answered by the lawyer and why they are important to me as an artist and as a person.  Once I have the interview with the lawyer I will then be able to write the blog post Reasoning of Law. Where i analyze the lawyers answers to my questions and what kind of logic he/she may have been using.  From there on the home stretch I will be able to write the blog Rule of Law.  Where i write about where his/her answers where consistent to the the rule of law. That they were of a professional opinion and that they had reasoning to backup their answer. While using the book with quotes that backup my findings and their answers.   And finally i can write the blog Your Own Argument and Opinion.  Where I write about if I agree or disagree to his answers. That even thought that may be that law I don't have to like it and maybe even what I've read my contradict what they've said. Using quotes from the book to backup my personal opinion. 

Week 6 EOC "Illicit"

The Illicit world around around is a very scarey world. Something so incontinent as buying a song illegally form the internet can seem so innocent as to say "it's just a song. . ." But after watching Illicit: The Dark Trade, shows that their is something so much more darker hiding behind the scenes of these trades.  They trade more than just illegally made purses and DVDs. There are no restrictions to what they will and will not sell, trade or steal.  But alone any one government can not stop this from happening or passing through customs. Because the traffickers never stop and they have more to loose if something is confiscated or slowed when moved. China itself doesn't look at these trafficking business as an economy down fall but rather a positive boom.  The businesses brings in revenue that the government then gets taxes from.  But other countries sell more than just remade objects. Some reproduce drugs that are a part of many different markets. Some drugs can be bought on the 'black market', which are the exact same drug that is made legally just for cheaper, because it was stolen. The 'grey market' has products where the drugs were reverse engineered so that they are the same as the name brand but with out the name brand. As well as some countries producing drugs that look the same but are not made to work as the original drug was made for. Rather it is produced with chemicals that can kill, like poisons. Some countries go as far as to sell humans themselves. Either for work or for their bodies. Some remove the middle man as to say that they sell organs of a body. These are found on the 'black market' that if needed an organ that you would have to wait for someone to donate or die to get. if you have the funds and the contacts you can have these stolen organs. No matter how deep you go into this world someone can always say, 'well it was just a purse. . .' My question would be 'Are you sure? Do you know what else was on that tanker that brought in that purse?'  For me it's just easier to buy things than to steal them.  If I can't afford it, then I guess I don't need it.

Week 5 EOC: Patent Trolls

This Patent Trolling is getting out of hand I think. I understand that it is the corporations job to have their patents up to date and all and that they expire in 17 to 20 years and all they have to do is pay a fee every four years.(The Wall Street Journal) So it's not very hard to stay on top of that and that someone in that department, assuming that their is one for that. That they are shirking their responsibilities, but honestly are people really that greedy? Corporations can be corrupt and steal money and only care for the shareholders and the CEO's and what not but are these people these patent lawyers really to their common man any good? The Patent, Copyright & Trademark book, refers to "Patent Trolls" as a disparaging term for someone who sues for patent infringements. in other words, the patent troll is in the business of suing companies. So I guess it would make sense why it's layer who are patent trolls because they are already in the business of suing anyway. Let alone from what I've read that these are patent lawyers anyway, or close relatives in some cases. And  a violator had to worry about was paying a $500 penalty for misleading the public. But it is up to $500, but defendants are worried about having to pay the $500 for every little item, an example of a mascara bottle. (Wall Street Journal) Which is a hefty sum considering that the product depending on the brand can cost form $1 to $15.  Substantial difference in payment value.  For me personally yes someone should keep the corporations in check, but patent trolling is just devious. These people are only thinking of themselves and what money they can make out of it. Not even thinking of the ramifications that it could have to the lowly workers. They corporations have to pay out large sums of money to people who found a loop whole so the corporation has to make back that money. So what do they do, fire people, close business, raise prices. These patent trolls don't think about anyone else, just what they can get to screw the man.

Week 4 EOC "Death Race Jeopardy"

Learning patent definitions can be hard and tiring, but a unique and innovative way to learn is by playing Jeopardy.  In this game you first must have four categories and then five different questions varying in difficulty. In doing this you are forced to look through and read the definitions and find ones that may or may not pertain to your degree.  The more difficult process of this is rewording them so that you don't use the answers in the questions, while giving clues enough to help them guess the right answer.  For myself I found this very helpful although I may not have remembered all the words and definitions I learned key phrases that everyone seemed to use in theirs so that when a question came up on the screen that I had an idea of where to look.  I will say one draw back for me was my need to know for sure if I was right rather than saying what I believed what it was and then looking to confirm my suspicions.  I think this was a very helpful learning experience for this kind of study. Not everyone learns the same and some of us can't just sit down and memorize that answers for every question, but having that talent would make studying so much easier.  This allows us to work with and against each other in a friendly environment, so that we push each other in a positive way. I think as far as learning new definitions may be hard to say, because the way we all worded it different can have an affect on how we retained the knowledge, meaning that if we would have read it to ourselves we may have chosen different key words to help remember they by. Assuming that they test questions would have those same key identifiers.  But as a whole I think it went over well, it lets people know where they stand and how much more work (studying) they need to do to be ready for the exam in the up coming week.

Week 3 EOC "Stolen Valor"

The Stolen Valor Act was struck down by the supreme court ruling that "by a 6-3 decision, the high court said the right to lie about medals and military service, while "contemptible" and worthy of outrage and ridicule, is protected by the 1st Amendment."~ Los Angles Times. The first amendment to protect our freedom of speech is wonderful in the content that we are free to have opinions and voice them out loud. To protest against things without fear from our government and punishment by its laws. But this gives free rein to all companies that wish to lie about their product they are selling. To say that their product is the best, or that it's better than their competitors is no longer false advertising now it's just a lie, which is protected under the First Amendment of their freedom of speech and they can longer be sued. Such a fine line these companies wish to walk. It seems they are too busy trying to make money and keep their money that they no longer care about a code of ethics. As for Xavier Alvarez, "he was indicted and pleaded guilty with the understanding that he would challenge the law's constitutionality in his appeal. He was sentenced under the Stolen Valor Act to more than 400 hours of community service at a veterans hospital and fined $5,000." ~ Fox News  So the court system did something for the real Veterans and the true heroes of the wars. But in the end did it effect anything, or did it just give a window of opportunities for others to skirt around the law?  As far as the courts and First Amendment, "the court has, in the past, endorsed a number of limitations to the First Amendment: Libel, certain kinds of obscene speech, incitement to violence and fraud are some of the categories that the court has ruled are not protected free speech; the court has also allowed certain restrictions on the exercise of free speech in public school classrooms. But for the most part, speech in open forum has to cause some kind of direct, tangible harm to be considered as unprotected under the Constitution" ~ Las Vegas Sun.  But it also says under the Stolen Valor Act that you can't say that you were in the military or received any metal falsely if it ends in the you receiving something of value, but doesn't specify what is of value. Ruling will be decided on Thursday.

Week 2 EOC: "Erin Brockovich"

The actual lawsuit claim of the PG&E was $333M. So to that the lawyer fees at 40% got $133.6M and Erin Brockovich got $2M in bonuses.  The case itself thinking that any form of money would settle for what these people would have to deal with for the rest of their lives in medical bills and the tribulations that they will be saddled with for the rest of their lives.  But they did settle. For PG&E to have begun by skimming over the real harm done shows that like all corporations only care about is themselves and not those they have harmed. And that unlike a lawyer Erin was looking for real justice to help the people that she became friends with.  This lawsuit is a harsh reality of the world around us. The corporations are trying to look good in the eyes of those around them, but what they are really doing is using their power a status to manipulate the systems to keep things out of courts and then when they do got to court then they try to smudge over the real damage they have caused. While the people that were truly hurt and their lives destroyed or devastated in this particular incident, the company screwed up and those people deserved to be compensated for their lives. But what amount would be enough? Could any amount be enough when you think of your future and what it will be without because of the company. This is where companies should have more of a heart and think ahead to prevent these kinds of problems and not just care about the bottom line. Think about the people and what damage it could have. Follow the rules and regulations, they are there for a reason not to simply annoy and slow down the process. As far as lawyers and the like, I will be lucky to never have one, but if fate hands me a different card I hope that he is more interested about justice than an amount of money he could win from my case. Justice seems to be an illusion that a person strives to live by an people can exploit.
Information found at http://fumento.com/brockovich/mickeyerin.html

Week 1 EOC: "Voice"

As an animator and illustrator, I am a story teller.  I use camera angles to make you feel something towards a character or a place.  I show you worlds seen and unseen by man. I make you cheer for the protagonist and loathe the antagonist, and transport you to a different time and place. A wild imagination is my best tool and resource, the only limitations are the ones I give to myself. I can't image a better place to work, than with other creative minds coming together and creating something wonderful. When their ideas bounce together to create something new, to have an idea, even a simple idea become something that others will enjoy. Someone once said that " if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life." No truer words were spoken. I may be an animator, but I am a storyteller first and foremost.  My greatest pleasure is to make others smile. To have them forget the trials and tribulations of their days. To open up a world that is new and wonderful. To bring hope, to give ideas, to inspire someone. I found many medias while going to school some that I had heard about and others I hadn't even known were out there. And in them I found my own creativity and more of my passion. In many of my classes I found my weaknesses and that no matter what "failure is not an option". I find now that my words have found their way back to me. Inspiration, to have an idea and give to someone else and then have it grow in them and have it handed back to you. It's like planting a seed and watching it grow. I have no interest in taking credit for all my work, but merely to work in a group of very creative people, and minds. I love spending time animating and becoming frustrated in something I didn't know how to do, but in the end not giving up and accomplishing so much and such little time.