RiP! A Remix Manifesto is available now on DVD
The Remix Manifesto:
Culture always builds on the past.
The Past always tries to control the future.
Our Future is becoming less free.
To build Free Societies, you limit the control of the past.
This is the basis to Brett Gaylor's documentary, RiP! A Remix Manifesto.
Six years in the making, Gaylor paints an energetic picture of the effects that copyright laws have on the creative world today and how it's limiting the creative rights of the present and future. In the center of the argument, and a main spotlight of the entire film, is Gregg Gillis -better known as mash-up artist, Girl Talk- who's innovative way to create music involves sampling dozens of songs to create a new, unique track. Gillis is sampling mere seconds of several songs to create a new form of musical art, but he is technically breaking numerous copyright laws in doing so. What is so frustrating is that if Girl Talk were to actually attempt to run the legal route to purchase the appropriate rights to these songs an average track would cost him over $400,000.
So, what's fair? It used to be that, under the Statute of Anne (1710) that an owner of a particular work owned the rights to that creation for only 14 years, after which, it entered the public domain for others to build upon. However, in modern day the world over, the new copyright laws entail that the creator owns the exclusive rights to his/her work for their entire life-span plus 50-70 years. This means that right now, the only music available for legal public use is music from the 1920's or so. RiP! explores many of the past and current copyright laws and asks what should be considered fair.
To prove the point that "Culture always builds on the past" the film takes a look at several bands who's songs all built on top of each other over a period of time to create individual tracks that fit their own expression; such as Led Zeppelin and The Verve. Gaylor also explores the history of Disney, which in the film is deemed as one of the first mash-up artists due to their taking classic fairy tales and remaking them in a modern image for profit. It is also noted in the film that while many of Disney's first animated movies are simply re-tellings of classic fairy tales, they were the ones who then turned around to fight for stricter copyright laws to then prevent anyone else from building from their work.
RiP! A Remix Manifesto goes into great detail about the evolution of copyright laws and how they affect so many facets of society today, including the medical community. The film features interviews with champions of what Gaylor deems the "Copyleft" -those who fight for more creative freedom in a world locked down by copyright laws- including, Stanford Lawyer Lawrence Lessig and former Brazilian Culture Minister, Gilberto Gil. All of whom make pretty convincing points of how copyright laws are inhibiting the creative nature of our modern world. No matter which side of the fence that you may sit on regarding the ownership of intellectual property, this film is sure to raise a few eyebrows on how strict some of these laws can be by exploring everything from sampling to illegal music downloading. In a digital world where it is so easy to lift anything from the internet, is it really possible these days to control what many consider "piracy?"
The film has a modern fast-paced feel to it all while maintaining integrity with the information presented and Gaylor has allowed his own film to be remixed countless times for different use and distribution, as well as including some of these remixed segments of his film in this final cut. An Official Selection at SXSW 2009 and the Audience Choice selection at Amsterdam’s International Doc Festival and the Whistler Film Fest, RiP! A Remix Manifesto is a great documentary to check out for anyone who has an interest in copyright laws and how they play into music and other aspects of modern society today.
RiP! A Remix Manifesto is available now on DVD and can be purchased over at Amazon.
Comments