With the regularity of remixes, it never occurred to me there could be legality issues concerning ownership. However, after watching RiP: A Remix Manifesto, I became concerned. This film brought to light a lot of contemporary issues surrounding remixing - what specifically caught my attention was the downloading of music and also the controversy surrounding the remixing of songs. Girl Talk (who was also featured in the film as an example of "fair use"), one of the most popular mashup artists, has an astounding - and quite frankly frightening - career. I always knew who he was and what he did, but I was not aware that he and his family are literally wondering when he's going to run into trouble. Apparently much of his work is illegal.
There were so many things that came to mind while watching this video. My immediate thoughts surrounded my own life. Being in university, we as students are asked countless times every year to look at the work of others and to create something new from it. I couldn't help but wonder how this is any different than remixing a song or video. In essence, it is the exact same as these research papers - taking the work of others to create something new. I linked this example of how to write a research paper to demonstrate how one of the main steps is to "look for sources of information."
My point here is that I'm scared.
I'm scared about what we truly are allowed to do with our creativity. With so many potential limitations and seemingly harmless people being punished for using the work of others, it is frightening to fathom what the result of other creativity may be. Are budding artists on YouTube supposed to receive permission for covering the songs of their favourite singers? Are bloggers like you and I supposed to receive permission for citing the thoughts of others?
I want to leave you all with one of my favourite current mashups: United State of Pop 2009. DJ Earworm has created mashups of some of the best songs of each year, starting in 2007. This 2009 mashup has received over 12 million hits on YouTube alone. Lets hope he's allowed to create one for 2010; I guess only time will tell...
What a great post, and I couldn't agree more with everything you said! Clearly so much of our culture involves remixing ideas and thoughts, yet I am finding life very inconsistent when we are responsible for sourcing them. I feel that these contradictions represent that intellectual property is going through a large transitional stage, and until we figure out copyright's place in our society (or copyleft's place), I think people will continue to be confused. Good luck with the remix paper!
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely right, it feels like we're in such a progressive time and the laws regarding copyright and copyleft are so in-between and up in the air, it's hard to determine what to follow. With the ever-changing opportunities made available to us via technology, the laws are also constantly in flux. I'd just like a handbook to tell me exactly what we can and cannot do! Thanks for the post Ms. Woods :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post Taryn! I think you raise a valid point with regard to the legality issues surrounding remixing. Before watching the video RIP A Remix Manefesto, I would never have really thought too much about copyright laws in terms of remixing with artists such as Girl Talk. I never really thought that much of his work was illegal and this was interesting to learn about in the film. I always really enjoy listening to Girl Talk and think he is very creative as he combines others work to create his unique remixes. I often think of remixing as a form of branding or re-branding lets say. As you mentioned Girl Talk is one of the most popular mashup artists, he has strongly branded himself as this in music industry. I think the idea of remixing and mashups is quite significant to participatory media as it allows for a creative and alternative option to just the original creator. It is interesting you note that we do our own form of remixing in everyday life and at school, similar to that of Girl Talk's work just in a written component.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your comment about artists on youtube, I agree with the question you pose about permission to post covers. This was too a quetion that comes to mind for me. I really don't think people should have to seek permission to do so. Take Phillip from class for example (Phillip I hope it is okay I am mentioning you), He did an excellent cover of the Adam Lambert song. I think this shows that individuals can feed off one another, and can be inspired by others work. I think the idea of collaboration and feeding off one another is a crucial part to participatory media and therefore I too hope that artists such as DJ Earworm and individuals will be allowed to continue remixing and creating mashups.
This could not be any more true. My opinion on this matter is very similar to yours, and it was also after I watched RIP: A Remix Manifesto that my questions and concerns began to arise. There was so much truth and relevance in the film and I think its our generation that has been affected by the this the most.
ReplyDeleteTo me it seems that all of these technologies and advancements are created, some even prior to having a use, but then once they are created we are limited to what we can do with it. Then why even create the technology in the first place?
Remixing has become a part of our everyday life, whether we realize it or not. I feel it is simply impossible to find anything that is 100% original whether is be a song, video, blog or journal article. People build off of ithers ideas to develop new ideas or advance on the same idea.
Remxing is everywhere!!! so what to do about copyright laws??
Thanks again everyone for your input. Everyone made excellent points regarding remix. I have to agree and simply say that it could not be more true that remixing has become a part of our everyday lives! Copyright is becoming increasingly prevalent with all the technological advancements of our day, and its important that the rules are made clear or else people will continue to be confused.
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