If it is determined that the meme used a copyrighted work such as the photo or photo of the film without the permission of the original owner, this would constitute copyright infringement. Comics and rage memes created solely for the purpose of becoming memes would normally be original works of the creator, and therefore the question of infringement of other copyrighted works does not arise. [88] In a cinematic still image, part of the entire final product is taken out of context and presented only for its face value. The still image is usually accompanied by superimposed text that conveys a distinctive idea or comment, such as the Boromir meme [89] or the “Grus plane.” [90] This does not mean that all photo or movie photo memes infringe copyright. There are defenses for such use in various jurisdictions that could absolve the meme of any liability for the breach. As mentioned earlier, Dawkins hoped that the word would be used as a unit of human cultural transmission, as a melody, fashion, or slogan, with the idea evolving as it spreads and time passes. This development is largely driven by the fact that people refine memes or simply don`t “copy” information exactly when they pass it on to another person. This has since led to other derived words or phrases, including: Internet memes were examined by Dancygier and Vandelanotte in 2017 for aspects of cognitive language and construction grammar. The authors analyzed some selective popular image macros such as, Say No One Never, We Don`t Just Make, But It`s Not My Business, and Good Girl Gina to draw attention to the constructive, multimodal, and intersubjective view of these memes. They further argued that Internet memes with the combination of text and image can complement the functional linguistic construction framework and create new linguistic constructs.

[21] So it`s definitely meh-meh and not meem. I always thought little about people who pronounced memes like meems. Fair dealing is a copyright defense in the United States that protects works created using other copyrighted works. [95] The section provides that if a copyrighted work is reproduced “for purposes such as criticism, commentary, reporting, teaching […], science or research”, this does not constitute an infringement. For memes in particular, the use of the term “how” in the section means that the list is not exhaustive, but merely illustrative. In addition, the factors mentioned in this section are subjective in nature and the weight of each factor varies from case to case. [96] Several opposing studies on media psychology and communication aim to characterize and analyze the concept and representations in order to make it accessible to scientific research. [17] [18] Thus, Internet memes can be thought of as a unit of information that replicates itself on the Internet. This unit can replicate or mutate. This mutation is not generational,[19] but rather follows a viral pattern,[20] which usually gives Internet memes a short life.

Other theoretical problems with Internet memes are their behavior, evolution, and teleology. [17] Modern memes can generally be described as visually (and not contextually) humorous, more absurd, niche, diverse, and self-referential than previous forms. As a result, they are less intuitive and less well understood by a wider audience. In the mid-2010s, they began to emerge as “wet” memes,[35] a subgenre of memes that typically included meme formats in a different way than the image macros commonly used before. The term “thank you,” which means “a cold, damp place,” was later adapted by marijuana smokers to refer to high-quality marijuana, and then became an ironic term for a type of meme that also became synonymous with “cool.” [36] This term originally meant a meme that was significantly different from the norm, but is now primarily used to distinguish these modern types of memes from other older types such as image macros. [ref. needed] Through memes, they can also refer to those that are “exceptionally unique or strange.” [37] They have been described as “internet jokes” that are “played to make them funny again” or “so absurd that they are hilarious.” [38] There is no uniform format for memes. Photos of people or animals, especially stock photos, can be converted into memes by layering text, such as Girlfriend too attached. Rage comics are a subcategory of memes that represent a set of human emotions and end with a satirical punchline; [7] The sources for these memes often come from webcomics.

Other memes are purely viral sensations as in Keyboard Cat. Some political campaigns have begun to explicitly use the growing influence of memes; As part of the 2020 US presidential campaign, Michael Bloomberg sponsored a number of Instagram accounts with over 60 million collective followers to post memes related to the Bloomberg campaign. [79] Similar to criticism of companies that use meme marketing, the campaign has been accused of treating meme culture as advertising or something that can be bought. [80] Internet memes became a concept in the mid-1990s. Back then, memes were just short clips shared between people on Usenet forums. [ref. needed] As the internet has evolved, so have memes. Over the years, many memes have emerged on 4chan`s website, which have been described as “the birthplace of memes, trolling and alterculture.” Some of the main memes popularized by this site include lolcats as well as pedobear. [27]:74 When YouTube was released in 2005, video memes became popular.

At that time, rickrolling became popular and the link to this video was sent via email or other messaging sites. Video sharing has also created memes like “Turn Down for What” and the “Harlem Shake.” When social media sites like Twitter and Facebook appeared, it was now easy to share GIFs and image macros for a wide audience. Meme generator sites have been created to allow users to create their own memes from existing patterns. Memes during this period could remain popular for a long time, from a few months to a decade, which contrasts with the rapid lifespan of modern memes. [28] During the 2010 It Gets Better project for LGTBQ+ empowerment, memes were continuously used to nurture and raise LGTBQ+ youth. [81] The symbol of the campaign for human rights for equality has become an Internet meme advocating the legalization of same-sex marriage. [82] The growing trend towards irony in meme culture has led to absurd memes that are reminiscent of postmodern art. Many internet memes have multiple layers of meaning that build on other memes and are intelligible unless the viewer has seen all the previous memes. “Fried” memes, memes that have been distorted and go through multiple filters and/or lossy compression layers, are often strange to someone who doesn`t know them. [47] An example of these memes is the “E” meme, an image of YouTuber Markiplier, photoshopped on Lord Farquaad from the film Shrek, photoshopped in a scene from businessman Mark Zuckerberg`s congressional hearing. [48] Public relations, advertising and marketing professionals have adopted Internet memes as a form of viral marketing and guerrilla marketing to create a marketing “buzz” for their product or service.

The practice of using memes to market products or services is called memetic marketing. [59] Internet memes are considered inexpensive, and because they are a (sometimes confident) fad, so they are used to create an image of consciousness or trend. To this end, companies have tried two methods of using memes to increase awareness and sales of their business. Create a meme or try to adapt or perpetuate an existing meme. [60] Examples of memetic marketing include the singing FreeCreditReport advertising campaign.com,[61] the meme “Nope, Chuck Testa” from an advertisement for taxidermist Chuck Testa, Wilford Brimley saying “Diabeetus” by Liberty Medical and the Dumb Ways to Die public advertising campaign by Metro Trains Melbourne. Over the years, there have been media outlets that have used, been inspired by, or revolved around various memes.