RiP! A Remix Manifesto is a very interesting open source documentary that focuses on changing the concept of copyright. The film follows Girl Talk, a Pittsburgh native who makes “mashup” songs, a cartoonists attacked by the Walt Disney Corporation for drawing Mickey Mouse, and various users targeted by the RIAA.  The documentary focused on the negative aspects of copyright law and how it limits creativity, health care advances and culture advancement.

I’m going to predict that most people in the class will side with filmmaker Brett Gaylor, so I’m going to play a little devil’s advocate as well. While I understand where some companies, record industries, and movie studios are coming from. In most cases, they spent millions of dollars to create their final products. They are the ones that backed the projects financially from the beginning and don’t want to see their work sullied. Can you blame them for wanting to guard the material they financed? Do we only target these companies because they have a huge bank account? Or are we just too greedy? How can we think it’s okay to take music others have created and rearrange it, only to turn around and sell it?

Personally, I blame Hollywood for not adapting with the times. Instead of targeting users, media corporations should be looking for a way to entice users to pay for content. They too need to change with the times and alter the way they view copyright law. If you don’t want people to steal your content, then you need to find a better way to package it for your target audience. Make it easier for consumers to do what they want with your content, while still profiting.

Ask yourself this: Would you be more willing to go to the movies if you were guaranteed a digital copy when it came out on DVD? I know I would.

Back in the fall Louis CK bankrolled his own special and decided to sell it via his own website for $5.00 with no DRM. You could download, burn it, watch it, etc.  And you know what? He made money. He cut out the middle man, made more money for himself and helped the consumer at the same time. If you really wanted you could just download the video for free from a peer-to-peer network without any fear of repercussions. But why do that when the video is only $5.00?

It’s clear that copyright needs to be readdressed by lawmakers, producers and media companies. There is money to be made. Otherwise we will continue to be a “generation of criminals” pirating music, movies, medicines, and anything else you can imagine.