Before I write this blog post on Lessig’s Remix»,
I would like to share a disclaimer: Back in 2007, I designed a video aggregate and have dealt with issues of copyright being involved in fairly large lawsuit. My perspective on copyright infringement is therefore a little skewed; however, I will attempt to be as central as possible.
I believe that piracy and copyright are relevant issues in society, but also industry opportunities. What do I mean? Sites like Hulu.com and Spotify have been spawned out of piracy in an attempt to eradicate it and the damages it causes (mainly, financially to content creators). Many websites have reduced online piracy and torrenting, and we can clearly see through statistics that piracy, especially after MegaUpload’s lawsuit have gone down drastically.
However, remixing is a different issue all together. For example, Lessig talks about the obliviousness of one mother who got fined $150,000 when she unknowingly used a clip of a song in a viral video. I agree this is a little ridiculous. In fact, I can’t imagine anyone who would support this: however, it is well known that each right of copyright infringement is a very costly fine.
Because remixing is an act of creativity, it is a very complicated issue in terms of creative development. I will explain why: While piracy can be argued as a promotional tool, and can be monetized through advertisement based engines such as Spotify, 8Tracks, and Netflix; it is difficult to recognize artists for re-mixes. Although, many artists themselves have sampled beats from the past, it would be interesting therefore to somehow reward original content creators when their content is remixed. This will ultimately solve the piracy issue: most other forms of piracy have been drastically reduced (from the 2000’s).
Lessig explains how important easy access is and that people will not wait to access content: therefore, I believe publishers should attempt to publish in mediums and methods that are beneficial to artists, producers, writers, designers. I agree with his theology that “even the good will become pirates in a world where the rules seem absurd”. However, I do hear Kim Dotcom (MegaUpload Founder) is working on a product that will reward artists, and content producers, and attempt to help with remixing. I can’t wait =]
Very well written article. Copyright infringement is a huge issue in our society today, so I can see where people can get somewhat frustrated over ridiculous situations such as the Stephanie Len’s case. I felt like this post was not bias at all, and explains how many people feel today including myself. Just as Lessig said people are not willing to wait and get access therefore your idea about publisher attempting to publish mediums where people can find methods that follow the all the copyright rules, would be a really good idea. In the end it would be beneficial to the artists, producers, writers and anyone else that is involved. That was a really creative idea, and realistically I can see it working. But in the end I think that people need to become more educated on this topic. Many people, including yourself did not know that you were breaking the law. If they educated people on this topic and made access more available, people would follow these rules and their would be less illegal act.
You did a fantastic job making this post interesting to the reader. I loved your inital comment about your personal experience with copyright issues. In addition, you did a nice job explaining Lessig’s point of view and analyzing what that means in today’s society.
Good job bringing personal experience and insight to the table, but you neglected to fill us in, however briefly, about the context of your discussion: Lessig and his book. Need to provide some background on Lessig and summary of his book to properly acquaint the reader of your blog that isn’t in this class.