Everything is a Remix

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This film of ‘Everything is a Remix’, part 4 in the series, covers various aspects of intellectual property, copyright, originality, ownership, etc. the film is introduced as:

“Our system of law doesn’t acknowledge the derivative nature of creativity. Instead, ideas are regarded as property, as unique and original lots with distinct boundaries. But ideas aren’t so tidy. They’re layered, they’re interwoven, they’re tangled. And when the system conflicts with the reality… the system starts to fail.”

It starts a little slow (and off-topic) but bear with it as it all comes together and you’ll see the importance of the first few minutes.

Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson.

What I like about it is;

  • Evolution is “copy, transform, combine” … and so are Memes (ideas, behaviours, skills) that “copy, transform, combine” = Social Evolution (00:50)
  • Although not mentioning Creative Commons in as many words, the ideas behind it are covered throughout the whole film when dealing with ideas, intellectual property, and demonstrations on ideas being a commodity. (02:00)
  • “When we copy, we justify. When others copy, we vilify!” – using examples of Disney and Steve Jobs to demonstrate they both use others work and pass it off as their own, and are happy to do so, but “go thermonuclear war” on those who copy them. (03:40)
  • “The belief in intellectual property has grown so dominant it’s pushed the original intent of copyright and patent out of the public consciousness. But that original purpose is still right there in plain sight.” (10:25)
  • “We live in an age with daunting problems: we the best ideas possible, we need them now, we need them to spread fast. The ‘common good’ is a meme that was overwhelmed by intellectual property. It needs to spread again. If the meme prospers our laws, our norms, our society, they all transform. That’s Social Evolution, and it’s not up to governments, corporations, or lawyers.  It’s up to us.” (11:10)

It is worth watching the previous 3 episodes too, as they demonstrate that, deliberate or not, very little we know is as original as we think it is. It is also fair to say that I am quite disappointed that much of what I loved about some films and songs for their ‘originality’ is just rubbish, and they’re a re-hash of someone else’s work.