During our lecture today, we watched the documentary ā€œRIP! Remix Manifestoā€. The video looks into the growth of the internet over the past 30 years and the purpose of the computers and connections around the world. The documentary begins by discussing how the internet is a place for all people to share and express ideas. The title ā€œremix manifestoā€ refers to the debate between future and past and how past societal views influence our perspectives today but also challenge the way we view the world. The first topic they debate is the ability to use music freely. The group ā€œGirl Talkā€ mashes together popular songs to create new forms of music. However, copyright infringement and knowing who owns what is difficult to determine. Artists create popular songs we hear and enjoy are based upon previous melodies or rhythm, which becomes difficult when songs are not available in the public domain.Ā 

The documentary focuses on 3 main ideas…

  1. Culture always builds on the past
  2. The past always tries to control the future
  3. Our future is becoming less free

The video proceeds by discussing how the concept of copyright was put in place to give creators ownership and credit to their own work. The website ā€œNapsterā€ was a public music sharing website which created anger amongst the record companies as they were not profiting from this illegal downloading platform. Lawerence Lessig is a lawyer who fought the government on the freedom to share music in the public domain. He discusses the concept of fair use which allows people freedom of speech and to quote other peopleā€™s work. Furthermore, the argument the creators are trying to express is that the copyright laws have grown out of control and have limited artistsā€™ creative freedom to interpret artwork.Ā 

One of the most famous examples of remixed media is almost everything created by Disney. Famous movies such as Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Pocahontas are just a few examples where they took cultural stories and continued to develop them.Ā  Disney has extremely strict copyright laws, yet we still see millions of people using Disney to create their own artwork.

The documentary concludes with girl talk playing at Coachella, and how people cannot enjoy their music unless they attended it due to the strict copyright laws. The video makes a mockery of the copyright laws by showing footage from Coachella but playing a classical music piece that is free in the public domain.

I believe that this documentary makes very valid arguments towards the problems around copyright and the use of artists’ work. While this documentary focused on the music industry, it is important to consider other forms of media such as television, photography, or art. Music is something that I believe should be shared and celebrated and people should have the opportunity to expand that creativity from their own unique perspective. However, I do believe it is important to respect those who created it and give them the rights they deserve. Many artists only make a sliver of actual sales and as a society, we need to rework our copyright laws in the 21st century.

After watching the documentary, we discussed some of the options for open education resources for teachers. I found that the website OER Commons was particularly useful as it offered a variety of lesson plan options for teachers. In a career such as education, teachers often collaborate to create incredible lesson plans. This website provides us with the opportunity to expand our understanding and spread knowledge to students around the world!

-Ms. GĀ šŸ™‚