ENGL 303: Multimedia Writing , Spring 2012 » queen http://courses.johnmjones.org/multimedia West Virginia University, Professional Writing & Editing Tue, 03 Nov 2015 14:39:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Bum Bum Bum da da Dum Dum http://courses.johnmjones.org/multimedia/2012/02/bum-bum-bum-da-da-dum-dum/ http://courses.johnmjones.org/multimedia/2012/02/bum-bum-bum-da-da-dum-dum/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 02:07:47 +0000 ElizabethFinley http://courses.johnmjones.org/multimedia/?p=1399 Continue reading ]]> With all the SOPA hoopla that’s been going on recently, I felt that this week’s topics in the readings were very appropriate. When I read the Remix chapters and watched the RIP: A Remix Manifesto movie, one of the first things that popped into my mind was the Vanilla Ice and Queen argument over the “stolen” beat of “Under Pressure” for “Ice, Ice Baby.” I have added YouTube links to the clips of each of the songs below:

Queen’s “Under Pressure” —> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I

Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice Baby” —> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rog8ou-ZepE&ob=av2e

Queen’s song came first. There was never an official law suit, but it’s believed that Ice paid off Queen to keep it out of the courts. The two songs are completely different, with different lyrics and meanings. The beats, however, are strikingly similar. So did Ice steal Queen’s “intellectual property?” Yes? No? Maybe so?

And then what about the remixes where the beats and things are perhaps less similar than the original? Where do we draw the line of what is considered plagiarism and what is not?

According to RIP, “artists build on the work that came before them.” This is exactly what remixers do. And any artist, for that matter. As humans, even, all of us are products of pieces of someone else; our parents, friends, complete strangers influence the people we become. If I start saying “fetch” like Gretchen from Mean Girls, does that mean I’ve stolen the intellectual property of Tina Fey, who wrote the screenplay?

It’s all very confusing. I don’t really know what side I’m on in the subject, either. I mean, I guess it would be annoying if someone stole your idea. But, everyone knows you did it first, and isn’t imitation the biggest form of flattery? Just something to think about.

]]>
http://courses.johnmjones.org/multimedia/2012/02/bum-bum-bum-da-da-dum-dum/feed/ 0