Sometimes I really do love the little interesting bits of information presented in some of our readings. In chapter 1 of Remix, for example, John Philip Sousa is said to have essentially coined the term ‘piracy’ in the sense we view it today: as a careless exploitation of someone else’s intellectual property.

It’s not Sousa’s most interesting claim, however. In his fight to eliminate the piracy of the “infernal machines,” Sousa makes a claim– that  the advent of “mechanical music” will silence those creating amateur music, leading to a culture in which listening is prized over generating. Like most sweeping doomsday proclamations, there is some truth to his claim, I think. With the prevalence of piracy in the modern age, has our desire to have and to share devalued the creations we put so much worth in?

You hear a common complaint in today’s society: “Things just aren’t what they used to be.” From manufacturing to producing to consuming, the dynamic of contemporary culture has shifted in favor of more, faster and cheaper. The creation and maintenance of a culture is contingent on a certain level of reciprocity to allow it to thrive.

But does the Internet inhibit culture? How can something that has become so universally accepted and enjoyed be a detriment to culture?

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“Why is it “weird” to think that you need permission toquote? Why would (or should) we be “outraged” if the law requiredus to ask Al Gore for permission when we wanted to include aquote from his book ‘The Assault on Reason’ in an essay? Why is anauthor annoyed (rather than honored) when a high school student calls to ask for permission to quote?”

“The freedom to quote, and to build upon, the words of others is taken for granted by everyone who writes.”

“Though I’ve not yet found anyone who can quite express why, any qualified Hollywood lawyer would tell you there’s a fundamental difference between quoting Hemingway and quoting Sam Wood’s version of Hemingway.”

“Why?”

“As Negativ-land’s Don Joyce described to me, what happens when technology“democratiz[es] the technique and the attitude and the method [of creating] in a way that we haven’t known before. . . . [I]n terms of collage, [what happens when] anybody can now be an artist”?”

“However sensible, the freedom to quote is not universal in the noncommercial sphere. Instead, those in thousand-dollar suits typically insist that ‘permission is vital, legally.’”

“Remix is an essential act of RW creativity. It is the expressionof a freedom to take “the songs of the day or the old songs” andcreate with them. ”

“In the end, my aim is to draw all these forms together to point to a kind of speech that will  seem natural and familiar. And a kind of freedom that will feel inevitable.”

– Chapter 4 (a remix)

The essentials are, of course, that communication is vital to a culture, and no form or permutation of communication should be prohibited in a free state. Simple.

P.S. – Isn’t Girl Talk great? His music is volatile in a sense, though; he does sample, and he does remix, so what does that mean? RiP! A Remix Manifesto raises a few really interesting points– namely, does the “Copy Right” have the right to control and police the ideas of the “Copy Left.” Is sampling an instrument? What distinguishes pressing keys from a piano to create music and taking bits of songs to create a mash-up?

“You can’t argue your creativity when it’s based on other people’s stuff.”

Every aspect of our culture is built upon cultures before it. All of the archetypes are in place; musicians inspire other musicians, and two artists can paint the same tree. What degree of difference has to exist between one thing to the next to separate them? The public domain has been free in the past; only within the last few hundred years has the issue of creative ownership come into play. Copyright laws were created to encourage authors to create without fear of infringement, but they have become an instrument to inhibit free creation. Lessig knows this and Gaylor knows this. The extremes to which copyright laws are taken today has created a culture that doesn’t talk about its culture or exercise its culture as culture intended.