Josh in Japan

The following script is also linked in audio form with the “podcast” icon below.

Thanks,

Josh

This is Josh from the Josh in Japan Podcast. Recently I was informed by a person named MEL K. DIXON of Tokyo that he (or she) was using my Podcast in their English class for secondary education students here in Japan. MEL emailed me to let me know that he was not concerned with the quality or topic of my show but more concerned that I would quit podcasting for good. Mel implored me to keep podcasting so as not to loose the free resource that he (or she) was using in their class. Not only is Mel using my Podcast as lesson material in his class here in Tokyo, but informed me that there are other branches of this secondary education facility where the instructors are using my Podcast as a learning tool. These branches are located in the areas of Okinawa, Sendai, and two in Fukushima, as well as Mel’s facility in Tokyo. Mel was reluctant to inform me which school or university he (or she) works for. There’s a reason for Mel’s defiant stance to not letting me know what the name of this school was. His (or her) use of my Podcast along with the other teachers and the school as a whole is illegal without my consent (or prior knowledge) to make money off of their students. These Japanese students pay money to attend the English classes in question. My podcast is played for the students, and they are in turn instructed to find different types of grammatical errors within the show. This is the same as using a text book or English instruction tape as a classroom aide. The only difference is that no one gained permission from me in advance to use my podcast as a teaching aid with no reimbursement. I was notified that this was happening only because one of the instructors using this free teaching aid (MEL) was worried that they would no longer have material if I quit podcasting. I am only concerned that after this message, the school in question just picks another un-consenting and uninformed Podcaster to use in the same fashion I was used. I was going to give the school in question an offer to avoid any reimbursement for past illegal use of my Podcast. Unfortunately, Mel decided to cover his or her self by not naming the school in question. If only Mel had told me, I would have never mentioned his or her to the thousands of Josh in Japan listeners. If anyone knows the name of the school in question, please contact me at josh (at) joshinjapan.com with any information you may have. I have absolutely NO PROBLEM (REPEAT NO PROBLEM) with people using my Podcast for whatever they want as long as there is no money made for using my Podcast, and no one is trying to defame my character. People can use my Podcast on an individual basis for learning English, learning how not to speak English, learning about Japan, or whatever they want. It is in fact very rude, disrespectful and most importantly, illegal for a person, or organization to use a podcast to make money without that podcast owner’s knowledge or consent. So in summary, MEL K. DIXON was concerned that he (or she) would have to start paying for a new learning aid for his English class if I quit podcasting. This in turn informed me that someone (actually a whole school spread throughout Japan) was using my podcast to make money without my prior knowledge, consent or offer of reimbursement. Using a podcast or any other type of creative art to make money without the owner’s consent is a very obvious and flagrant violation of international copyright laws. My podcasts are all marked with “copyright 2006, joshinjapan.com”. It does not get clearer than that. If anyone has any information on which school MEL K. DIXON or his associates work for, I would greatly appreciate it. Please email josh (at) joshinjapan.com. You will stay completely anonymous. Thank you for your attention, and I now return you to your previously scheduled podcast.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 19th, 2006 at 11:50 pm by Josh and is filed under , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.