Between creators and creatures: An investigation on the relationship of internet memes with copyright

Abstract

This article investigates the production of Brazilian authorial memes in social media. Memes are developed by an individual or group of individuals, and reach wide circulation in the context of the internet, characterizing what some authors call “spoof”. From an understanding of memes as a media genre, based on a dynamics of re-appropriation, the goal of this work is to evaluate how the production of pieces of this nature, such as parodies or montages, impacts on the relationship between netizens and authorship. In order to discuss these aspects, we performed a series of qualitative interviews with meme creators on Facebook. Results leads to an understanding that memes add a layer of mediation to traditional comprehension of copyright, making production of meaning more complex and sophisticated.

Keywords: memes, copyright, social media and intelectual property, spoof culture.