The battle between copyright enforcers and the general public is one that most people tend to ignore unless it's something that has a personal effect on them. This battle, however, is one that I have a beef with. It's almost hard to explain a specific viewpoint that I have on copyright laws and enforcements, because I have multiple opinions. Yes, stealing is bad, but the punishments they give are way too overboard and unjust; and sometimes they are just outright undeserved.
Lets go with the first standpoint on this matter. Stealing. I don't honestly understand the real definition of theft when it comes to something called 'intellectual property'. If any of you have seen the movie "RiP! A Remix Manifesto" then you'll understand exactly what I'm talking about. In said film, they go over a Manifesto that consists of these four things:
1. Culture always builds on the past.
2. The past always tries to control the future.
3. Our future is becoming less free.
4. To build free societies, you must limit the control of the past.
These four statements almost completely define how I view the idea of copyright. Nothing itself is original, all thoughts and ideas build on one another to create something great; once that great thing reaches it's potential, it's broken down into more fabricated and perfected ideas. No one can just spontaneously come up with a great idea on their own without it having been inspired by something else. This is where 'intellectual property' comes in. Some people have the strong idea that if they thought it, they own it. They want all the money and royalties that they can get for their thoughts. So when someone takes that idea and changes it a little and calls it their own, that's when things get bad. I personally don't like the theft either but only when it comes to certain circumstances. Here are some specific examples: I'm an artist; lets say I draw something and a day after i publish it someone directly copies it, takes it as their own, prints it and maybe even sells it. That is stealing. I didn't come up with the concept in whatever drawing that was, but I was the one who made it INTO something. Now lets go back and say that instead of copying it and printing it, they used the same brushes and colors or something and made that picture into something new. Well that's what I define as creation. Like the manifesto states, 'culture always builds on the past', I wouldn't mind seeing that picture; in fact, I would more proud than anything. The fact that something I created being changed into something better and morphed into something 'fresh' is just how things work.
Lets get to a topic more people can relate to; music.
The picture above is of one of my favorite creators and musicians, Gregg Michael Gillis; also known as Girl Talk. He creates things called 'Mash-ups' which basically are songs made from songs. He takes bits and pieces of various songs and makes them into something... creative and new. You can hear one of Girl Talk's songs here. He combines everything and it flows so well that it's a perfect example of how culture builds on the past. Is what Girl Talk is creating, however, stealing? I don't think so.
Sorry it's long Sutherland new part coming up though!
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