Blog 9 - LL, Remix

Lawrence Lessig's Remix comes to us in a small, hardback book. With a blank white cover, save for the letters 'LL' embossed ever so slightly, and a spine with just the title and author, there was nothing to differentiate the book from a paperweight. Not much was expected from me. Fortunately, my expectations were wrong and within the introduction I found Lessig's writing interesting and informative.

The Introduction is actually a series of four stories, with a conclusion that ties them together and identifies the significance of each section. There is Stephanie Lenz, a mother who faced a lawsuit for videotaping her child dancing to a copyrighted song. Next, a small exhibition where screens show several people singing a popular song. Greg Gillis, the artist who is Girl Talk, creates tracks where many many songs are ripped apart and pieced together, in a sort of audio collage. SilviaO is a Colombian artist who was faced with another artist taking her work and remixing it into a different song entirely.

These four stories talk about copyright and the way in which we negotiate rules of ownership. Lessig is arguing, however, that our initial understanding of copyright is misguided. He believes that there are two opposing ideas: anyone anywhere can take anything and resell it as their own, and each work created is protected from all forms of copy. These two standpoints do not have all the answers independently, but rather, he continues, there is an important balance that must be struck.

Continuing on, RW/RO culture is described as read-write and read-only culture. It is symbolic of how people consume media. RW tells of how people not only take in different art forms, but also create their own. RO is the opposite, where no creation exists. These ideas matter intrinsically to Lessig's argument, as they form the basis for understanding how people work with the abstract concept of copyright and idea management.

Lessig brings in Sousa, known well for his contribution to big band marches. But why? I believe that Sousa, and more specifically his viewpoints on copyright, mimic those of Lessig's. More importantly, these views are, at first, seemingly antithetical. Sousa says that we should protect the work of an artist, but also believes that machines that produce music are 'infernal,' as they take away from RW culture. It is a balance, with opposing sides, that produces the best outcome for all.