RIP: A Remix Manifesto

I really enjoyed RIP: A Remix Manifesto, a documentary on copyright laws within the US.  It sheds light on the unrealistic and overbearing copyright laws and regulations in the US and they are impacting the creation of a new pop culture.  The documentary focuses on one artist in particular, Girl Talk, who has created music mash-ups using thousands of pop songs both new and old.

            I had no knowledge of copyright laws prior to watching this documentary, so I found it very informative.  One of the facts I found most interesting and disheartening is that when it comes to copyright infringement, it is less about whether these artists are breaking the law than who they’re messing with.  Copyright laws are all dependent on whose music or films are being mashed up and how mad they are. These laws make it easy for large record label companies to annihilate mash-up artists because they own the rights to a large percent of popular music.

            After watching RIP, I was left feeling frustrated because the US is enacting laws that suppress new ideas, collaborative thinking, innovation, and modern art.  The US is so afraid to embrace new ideas because of this fear of losing the conservative values and traditions it was built upon.  However, what many of our lawmakers don’t realize is that by not permitting this mash-up culture we are abandoning one of our core values– freedom of expression. These ridiculous copyright laws do not give artists the freedom to create and re-create brilliant works of art using earlier works as inspiration for their own. 

At one point in RIP, DJ Marlboro from Brazil said, “Originality is mixing two things together that have never been mixed before”.  Amen!  So much of what I create is ripped off of other artists I have come across, just like every other artist.  In order to broaden our own artistic horizons we look to others for inspiration.  When something intrigues us, we pull it apart, mix it up, and mash it together with other ideas we have seen and/or come up with ourselves, and the end product is a new and completely original piece of work that we call ours.