The more I read about creativity and originality, the more it reminds me that my beliefs on creativity were wrong. Chapters one and four of Lessig’s Remix explained the importance of remix and how remixes are all part of the flow of a creative species. One cannot simply be creative while alone, in a blank room, with no experience. Creativity requires inspiration. It bridges unrelated ideas or concepts into a new meaning.

Coincidently, I stumbled upon Everything is a Remix. This is a four-part webisode discussing the same topic and also emphasizes how important a remix is. Everything is a Remix and Lessig’s Remix brings up the original intention of copyright. It was created to praise artistic ability and cover development costs for an artist’s work. The interpretation of common day copyright has begun to spin out of control. Today’s copyright is seen as very dangerous litigations. An artist who uses or “samples” other’s work as inspiration may in return receive a subpoena to a court hearing.

There’s no doubt that copyright is a necessity for a creative culture. But how to effectively implement it is the problem. Lessig talks about Sousa, an artist and copyright extremist, and a conversation he once had with a Congressman. “I have never known that it was unlawful to get together an sing,” said Sousa (32). This line can be applied to the evolution of creativity and technology. YouTube, for example, may just be used as a way to “get together and sing.” This simple example shows how complex copyright restrictions can be. When does a remix become artistic plagiarism? The Internet has introduced new ways to communicate and copyright laws must remix themselves to fit into this new creative culture.