CopyRight vs. CopyLeft

It is hard to believe that copyright was created to encourage creation. Copyright is essentially an automatic (exclusive) right that goes to the author or artist and it does not require them to file special paperwork. Yet it is much more restrictive then it sounds. The universal rule is that you cannot use a copyrighted work without consent from the owner. The documentary by Brett Gaylor titled RiP: A Remix Manifesto follows the musician Greg Gillis, also known as Girl Talk. Girl Talk creates Mash-ups in other words he manipulates the classics. This can be extremely dangerous, even playing a single note of another song is justification for a lawsuit. Which is utterly ridiculous in my opinion. Gaylor came up with a four-part Remixer’s Manifesto with lawyer Lawrence Lessig.

The first of the four is “Culture always builds on the past.” As previously discussed our generation is with out a doubt a media literate generation and the creative process is more important then ever. Some would go ever far enough to say that the creative process is more important than the product. This first manifestation reminds me of an Art History course I took where I learned that practically every artist from Da Vinci to Dalí learned to paint, draw and sculpt by copying the artist before them. Copying is usually frowned upon in our society, but in some cases it is necessary and effective.

The Staple Singers recorded a traditional folk song called This May Be The Last Time in 1959. Six years later The Rolling Stones recorded “The Last Time”; it was basically the same song just a little bit more upbeat and rockier. Andrew Oldham Orchestra then came out with “The Last Time”(instrumental) in 1966. Finally in 1997 The Verve came out with “Bittersweet Symphony” which had an extremely similar tune to Oldham’s instrumental recording. The Rolling Stones’ publishers sued The Verve for 100% royalties. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger took all writing credits and eventually ended up selling the song to Nike for a TV commercial! Go figure.

Gaylor believes that artists’ build on work that came before them, which is the example described above. He says that this is crucial for a healthy “public domain” as well as creativity. The second manifesto is “The past always tries to control the future”. In this public domain that Gaylor speaks of he considers it to be a safe place to freely build on others work, but is it really if we are constantly monitored by copyright? Walt Disney is a prime example of an artist who “built on the past.” Most of the movies that he made where based on books and fairytales that already existed. For example, “Alice in Wonderland” was originally by Lewis Carroll, then there’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” which was part of the collection of the Brothers Grimm. Did Disney ask for Carroll’s or the Brothers Grimm’s consent; no they were long dead. The Walt Disney Company changed the law to make sure that no one else could do what Disney had done. Therefore as coined by Gaylor, “if you want to be a mash-up artist like Walt Disney, you need to work outside the law.” If you ask me the past is doing a pretty good job at controlling the future.

A member of Negativland, which is an experimental music band, said the following at a lecture: “Cooperation’s are completely taking over our culture and we can only consume it. But we are saying no. You don’t ask us if I want to see your Nike logo everywhere I go. You don’t ask me if I want to hear U2’s music when I go shopping or in a restaurant. So why do I need to ask you if I can take a little bit and make something out of it make fun of you critique you. Why do I need to ask?”

Thanks to organizations such as DRM (Digital Rights Management) “Our future is becoming less free”. This is the third part of the manifesto. Record and Movie Companies prevent us from copying CD’s, DVD’s and files to our computer. So now rather then the law deciding what we can and can not do, a cooperate software decides for us. There is nor free speech or fair use here!

In 2004 Lawrence Lessig traveled to Brazil and created Creative Commons, and alternative copyright system. Lessig said the following at a Creative Commons meeting, “Creative Commons was born to set culture free, a license that says I as a musician give you the right to sample my work take and build create, remix and the most important place were that conversation began was here in Brazil! I come from a land where we talk about being free; I come from a land where we are lost. You are our brother in this debate you must remind us of what we have lost.”