blog nine

I was eager to start reading Lawrence Lessig’s Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy simply because I was so ready to be done reading Miller’s book.  I understand why Miller’s book was important, and I definitely took some concepts from it, but it was a difficult read and an awkwardly shaped book!

To start off, Lessig provides the reader with an introduction that discusses issues of copyright.  Copyright, particularly in regards to music, can be a shady area with all things considered.  If a person samples a beat, or perhaps uses the same verses, how much of that can be considered copyright, and what is truly original music?  Sometimes, the listener cannot even tell if one artist is sampling another.  In my last blog, I used the example of Radiohead’s “Creep.”  Little did I know, Creep reflected a similar sound to the Hollies song, “The Air that I Breathe.”  A lot of listeners would not realize this use of “sampling,” and would not consider it to be a copyright issue.  That is exactly what makes this whole concept controversial; the things we accuse of copyright infringement, may not be what another would consider it to be.  A lot of it is based on our own definitions, though when it comes to the law, technically anything can be an issue of copyright.

Whether or not a person is sampling from another artist, I believe that it is original work if the artist has manipulated it in a different way attempting to reach a wider or more diverse audience.  As Doc Adam said in his talk during class, there is no TRULY original song.  Every song is inspired by something an artist has come across or something he or she have heard.  Lessig describes this as somewhat of a collectiveness of all things present in a person’s life.

Lessig goes on to describe two concepts known as RW and RO culture.  RW culture stands for Read/Write Culture, and RO stands for Read Only Culture.  Read/Write Culture describes when a person is able to obtain information by reading, listening, etc. and is able to use that information gained in some sort of way.  The person is actively participating in the information that they have just absorbed, and this can be their “inspiration” to create something modified than the original or new.  Read Only Culture is somewhat the opposite.  Read Only Culture describes how people can read, listen, watch, etc. but cannot use that information that they have just obtained.  In other words, they are unable to apply it to something outside of its original state.

RW and RO cultures matter in regards to Lessig’s argument because it can relate back to the issues of copyright.  If we were a Read Only Culture, we would not gain inspiration from the songs we heard or the things we saw.  Read/Write Culture allows artists to actively participate in the song creation process, and can use their inspirations and modify them to create something new.  This relates back to the main idea of the introduction.  Copyright issues can somehow keep artists from participating in a Read/Write Culture.  If they were so restricted by laws, etc. they would not be able to give their full attention and participation.

Lastly, Lessig used Sousa in his work because of Sosua’s practices.  Sousa wanted to make certain that artist’s work was not only protected, but that it was not being ruined.  He believed that the voice machines would ruin music as he knew it.  He believed that it would force culture into what Lessig describes as the Read Only Culture.  That people would listen, but not be able to participate.  Sousa is a good figure to learn from within this subject matter because the issue of copyright is still at hand, but Sousa isn’t disbarring artists from their own passions or inspirations…he is simply protecting artistic license that need it, within certain limitations.  Artists can be protected, but their work can still be used to inspire others.