On the Fence

Once again, I'm a bit on the fence when it comes to the claims made in "RiP! A Remix Manifesto". Where do we draw the line from what is copyright infringement and what is a new composition made up of a mash-up of already produced songs? One thing I agree with, it's a fine line.

The more I watched "RiP!" the more I seemed to sympathize with the idea that we, as artists, should be able to create whatever we want, even if that uses already created material. However, I also believe that there need to be limits set so artists aren't just stealing other artist's ideas. The U.S. Copyright laws attempt to define where exactly this line is, but I'm not entirely sure if they get it exactly right. In our constantly evolving culture where we are constantly devouring new media and eventually sampling it.

In "RiP!" there is a "manifesto" used in the beginning of the film. I figured to really flesh out how I feel about the film's ideas, I should probably respond to each rule.

1.) Culture always builds on the past.
          -This, I agree with. We are constantly evolving and this evolution builds off of what we have already done. We also, as is illustrated in "RiP!", are always sampling off of one another so, in a way, we are building off of our present.

2.) The past always tries to control the future.
          -I can see how this one is true. Especially in today's society where new media is being policed by a generation that was not as involved  in the composition of new media. 

3.) Our future is becoming less free.
          -I can also see this. I feel like new media composers are being policed more and more every year. The laws against copyright are becoming stricter and forcing artists to almost censor what they can and can not work with.
4.) To build free societies you must limit the control of the past.
          -I'm not sure about this one only because I'm not as involved with copyright laws. My art is old, but but still tries to constantly reinvent itself to stay relevant.