Category: Unit 09

Remix Discussion

I decided to focus on the Larry Lessig video and paper for this discussion. In the Ted Talk Lessig opens with many seemingly incongruent topics to eventually arrive at the discussion of copyright laws. Lessig believes that copyright laws how they are today are outdated.  Super strict copyright infringement laws create extremes on both sides that are both wrong. On one side of the argument you have sites like YouTube that now use a computer program to auto-takedown any copy infringing content even when it is being altered inter user-generated-content. On the other side are people who reject copyright laws completely. They are already seen as criminals for breaking laws to create their own content from previously made content and so see the enforcement of these laws as a joke and are prone to disobey the laws even more (say torrenting). Lessig believes: “Every single use of culture produces a copy, every single use requires permission” (Ted Talks Lessig). Just like airplanes being considered trespassing when they flew over people’s land, Lessig believes copyright laws restricting the use of ‘culture’ for user-generated content are outdated laws. He believes that “artists and creaters must embrace sharing” (Ted Talks Lessig). If the artists can get on board the laws will follow. However, he is very against people using this copyrighted material for profit and commercial usage.

Our generation is one in which we use and share all sorts of content. I have done a bit of torrenting, made music videos (for classes) using other people’s songs, and streamed television shows on ad free sites. It is hard to find the line when there is so much gray area. We can find any music or movie we desire at the click of a button, for a price or for free and the rest is up to morals and what is perceived as right or wrong. Lessig believes this bad behavior would stop if people were given some leniency with user-generated content and able to create their own content. He thinks that people only reject copyrights completely because they are already living against the law so whats the harm in taking it a step further.

Do you believe that less stringent copyright laws would heal the corrosive nature of people living against the law and cause them to obey the laws that are in place?

I don’t think that if copyright laws were more lenient there would be a shift away from torrenting and general piracy of content. These are options that have become so accessible and natural in our culture that a change in laws wouldn’t do anything to stop them. Once people have experienced something beneficial to themselves it’s hard for them to give it up. Making more lenient laws would only prove to them what they’re doing isn’t wrong. Plus I see the abolition of outdated copyright laws as the government giving an inch and the public taking a mile.