I recently watched the documentary "RIP! A Remix Manifesto". It was basically about the artists who mix music to make new music, and whether the law suits being pressed upon them are warranted. My opinion? Well, I’ll get to my opinion on piracy later, but I do think that the film was biased in favor of the "remixers".
By that I mean director Brett Gaylor looked only at why the remixers should be encouraged, but didn’t deal with the fact that the record labels were losing money on products that they actually own. Whenever they portrayed the corporate side of the industry, they were portrayed as big wig, greedy Nazis. The fact is that music is not just an art, but an industry. Now here’s where things kind of go morally and legally grey.
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| You don't remix music... Music remix YOU! |
If an artist takes previously existing music and does something new with it, whether it be a cover or a remix, is it still art? Is it even at all original? I like to think that it can be original. The basic argument of the film is that everything comes from something else. Science has shown this [link] has been demonstrated in art basically forever. Here’s a song you’ve probably heard and here is a remix of that song. Now, these songs have similarities, but they are also radically different. That’s art. Speeding up a song to make it sound like The Chipmunks is not.
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| Pictured: The only redeemable thing that Disaster Movie did was it's portrayal of these evil monsters. |
I thought that this movie was compelling in the sense that it makes a case for the artists using copyrighted music to make more art. It did not address piracy and how the companies are losing money from everyone who downloads their music.. Sure, some people use copyrighted music to make art, but other people just download it so they don’t have to pay for their media. This movie seems to forget about the corporations who are getting totally screwed by the people who download their music illegally. So yeah, if you’re going to make art with someone else’s music-go ahead, but I think they should at least pay some kind of royalty or something. It’s only fair. If you’re downloading music because you can’t be bothered to pay for it- well, "don’t get caught" is really all the advice I can give you.
Do I pirate music and movies? If I say "yes" then the fuzz can come and cuff me. Quite frankly, I’m not into the idea of being bummed in a jail cell. If I say "no" then I come across as a self-righteous jerk-hole. So, I’m not saying one way or the other. But I will say this: piracy is breaking the law. People break the law all the time. If you’re fine with the guilt and the risks for the sake of getting your media cheaper, then that’s your choice. I’m not going to stand in your way. Then again, someone else might.
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| Sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow. But this guy kicks WAY more butt than you. |
