Lawrence Lessig, an author and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, has written extensively about technology and copyright. He has written five books about this topic. His most recent book, Remix, addresses the most contemporary issues with copyright in our ever-changing society.
Lessig makes a strong case for our legal copyright system to “decriminalize creativity before we further criminalize a generation of our kids.” He starts out the first part of his book describing the culture we have evolved from to what we have now. By using a historical and relational map of how copyright laws and technology have influenced it, it is easy although lengthy to see how American arts and access to them have been limited.
He describes a “cultural emptiness” because of all the limitations people have endured to access songs, movies, TV shows, etc. We have been formed to consume professionalized arts. Lessig makes it seem that we can no longer appreciate the arts for what they should be because of strict copyright laws. He places great importance on reigniting a remix approach. We as a society should be able to get a hold of and use a song, part of a movie, and phrase in literature to create even more art. We should be able to do this without having to worry about breaking a copyright law. We ought to be free to see creative things and make them as well so that our culture becomes more sophisticated.
I like that you pointed out Lessig’s view of “cultural emptiness.” I think the general public should be able to use a clip of a song, a scene in a movie or a work of literature to create their own form of art. If we are never allowed to use previously published work due to copyright laws, it would be hard to actually do things on the internet.
Just a side note: I would have loved to read your opinion on the topic!