Talk:Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Linking to Cosmos: ASO video clips on the official National Geographic YouTube channel is OK

Despite the former entry (below) warning that it might not be a good idea to link to any of the video clips from Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey which are available on YouTube, I'm going to start linking to clips from the series which are available on National Geographic's official YouTube channel. These clips (some or all of which display the National Geographic "golden rectangle" logo on the screen) are obviously licensed because National Geographic holds the copyright to the series. A dead giveaway for a video clip that isn't licensed is poor reproduction quality: the low resolution / poor color clips probably are not licensed, and could possibly present a copyright cleanup issue (if National Geographic or Fox want to complain).

Pithy Francoln (talk) 23:05, 30 July 2018 (UTC)

Please be overly-cautious in avoiding video copyright issues with Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

The purpose of this paragraph is to ask everyone to avoid adding links from any of this page's quotes to free, short video clips from Cosmos: ASO which are available on YouTube or any other video hosting website other than the National Geographic Channel (the official website for the Cosmos: ASO television series). There are two reasons for this request. First, the 2014 version of Cosmos was produced by 21st Century Fox, a for-profit media company which is also the majority owner of the National Geographic Channel. All of the current links from this page to short, free video clips on the official website are preceded by advertisements (which create revenue and a financial reward to Fox for producing excellent, science-related television). Second, for-profit media companies like Fox have lawyers who are more likely to raise copyright concerns than the producer of the original Cosmos series (which was a Public Broadcasting System affiliate television station). I just don't want to spend non-productive time finding out if the free, short YouTube video clips pay a fair licensing fee (I'm guessing they don't), or dealing with copyright cleanup issues rather than enjoying myself while contributing to Wikipedia or Wikiquote.

Thanks.

Pithy Francoln (talk) 16:28, 14 October 2016 (UTC)

SUGGESTED GUIDELINES

Hello, thank you for considering adding a quote to this Wikiquote page from the well-written, gorgeous and compelling science documentary, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Before you do, please consider these four suggested guidelines.

First, Cosmos: ASO is a great tool for teaching science. Try to list broad quotes that inspire wonder and awe rather than quotes that could be the answer to a high school science teacher's quiz. According to the proposed Wikiquote guideline placing limits on quotations, "[t]he standard for good quotations is that they are memorable, significant, well-expressed and concise." I know much detailed information related to Cosmos: ASO is available elsewhere in other Wikimedia projects and on the Internet, but let's try to avoid turning this page into a cheat sheet loaded with numbers that might help a student avoid watching the episodes as part of an assignment.

Second, we can't get too carried away and add so many quotes that we go beyond the fair use exceptions to the copyright privileges retained by the authors, National Geographic, Fox, etc. Since each episode was one hour long when it aired on television with commercials, the proposed Wikiquote guideline limit is five quotes per episode.

Third, please don't add the one quote in the series that deals with marijuana probably being harmless. That may or may not be accurate as a matter of human physiology, but as a matter of criminal law (at least in the United States) quite the opposite is true. Students in many conservative U.S. jurisdictions have almost no surer method of negatively affecting their employment prospects than being charged with possession. Apparently this is especially true for minority students.

Fourth, please carefully consider whether you will unnecessarily alienate religious individuals before submitting a quote that disparages religion. It may not be a bad thing for many folks who go to church every week (including me) to see the first episode's brief summary of the trial and execution of Giordano Bruno. However, turning this Wikiquote page into an anti-religion screed risks alienating those individuals who are religiously devout and who understand that scientific thinking (including an understanding of evolution) is critically vital for the success of individual students and for our world community.

Obviously, anyone can disregard any or all of these four suggested guidelines. However, as Cosmos: ASO eloquently states, "science is a cooperative enterprise." It is my hope that these guidelines will help others to work with me to use Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey to further scientific knowledge and thinking.

Now, with that being said . . . I got chills the first time I heard a number of the lines from both the 1980 Cosmos and now the 2014 Cosmos. I think it's really enjoyable to share the best concise ideas from the series here on Wikiquote. Have fun!

Pithy Francoln