There are many connections between Lawrence Lessig's book and the documentary RIP! A Remix Manifesto. Specifically, I saw three key points that Lessig and the documentary centered around.
The documentary's focus centered on the musician "Girl Talk", while exploring the ideas of copyright, remixes, and intellectual property. The first key comparison that I saw between this film and Lessig was the belief that an amateur remixer should not be regulated by copyright law, due primarily to the creative nature of the work, and all around practicality of situation. Lessig shows his position when he states "At a minimum, Congress should exempt this class of creative work from the requirements of clearing rights to create" (3008-34). The documentary revealed their view of how copyright law through comedically teasing the audience with how they cannot play certain songs, or how the film itself is infringing copyright laws.
The second key similarity explored how historically, the people in power are the ones that feel the need to control and dictate how specific creative works are used. Both Lessig and the documentary talked about key findings, such as the VCR recording televisions, through which both argue that it is time for another change in our current practices. Lessig believes that if specific steps are taken, for example, if peer to peer file sharing is decriminalized, there would still be a way for the artists to track they work and earn royalties without impractical legal battles.
The last connection that I made between Lessig and the documentary was the call to action for the current society. It was intriguing how both talked about the numbers and shift towards this new creative world, where remixing is allowed, and copying, or badly remixing, is what gets users in trouble. The documentary showed how certain bands released they album and other works completely free.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Blog #11
Describe the difference between a sharing and a commercial economy. Why does this distinction matter to Lessig's main argument?
A commercial economy is where the exchange of money, or currency, for another good or service is the accepted and normal interaction. A sharing economy on the other hand, is a community based on exchange, where money does not transfer hands, and in Lessig's main argument, the exchange of money is "poisonous" to this type of economy. Instead of a monetary transaction, a sharing economy is based on the idea that participants of a community give freely to others because of a personal benefit or feeling of obligation that arrises when they contribute to this economy. Lessig talks about several examples, including Wikipedia, Linux, and Apache, where the users contribute because they feel the obligation to better the community, not because of a monetary compensation. Within sharing communities, Lessig explains that there are two subcategories; 'thin-sharing economies' and 'thick sharing economies'. The major difference between the two economies is based on the amount the contributor feels that the contribution is going to benefit themselves. Overall the importance of understanding both economies is that Lessig feels that in our increasingly technological world there is going to be a need to create a hybrid of the two.
A commercial economy is where the exchange of money, or currency, for another good or service is the accepted and normal interaction. A sharing economy on the other hand, is a community based on exchange, where money does not transfer hands, and in Lessig's main argument, the exchange of money is "poisonous" to this type of economy. Instead of a monetary transaction, a sharing economy is based on the idea that participants of a community give freely to others because of a personal benefit or feeling of obligation that arrises when they contribute to this economy. Lessig talks about several examples, including Wikipedia, Linux, and Apache, where the users contribute because they feel the obligation to better the community, not because of a monetary compensation. Within sharing communities, Lessig explains that there are two subcategories; 'thin-sharing economies' and 'thick sharing economies'. The major difference between the two economies is based on the amount the contributor feels that the contribution is going to benefit themselves. Overall the importance of understanding both economies is that Lessig feels that in our increasingly technological world there is going to be a need to create a hybrid of the two.
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