The deck for the presentation on Remix Culture I gave to SVA (School of Visual Arts) grad seminar on 11.04.10.

1. Tom Tenney
http://inc.ongruo.us
11.4.10

2. What It’s Not
Piracy

3. What It’s Not
Piracy
Anti-Copyright

4. What It’s Not
Piracy
Anti-Copyright
Plagiarism

5. New York Times
February 27, 2010

6. New York Times
February 27, 2010

7. So What Is It?
• Calls for the restoration of copyright as a
contract for a limited monopoly on work so
that both artists and culture benefit from
creative works.

8. So What Is It?
• Calls for the restoration of copyright as a
contract for a limited monopoly on work so
that both artists and culture benefit from
creative works.
• Argues for citizens and consumers to have
permission become ACTIVE participants in
their culture, that means using it's artifacts in
order to comment, critique, create and build
upon what has gone before.

9. Copyright
A Brief History

10. Statute of Anne – England, 1709

11. Statute of Anne – England, 1709
AKA The Copyright Act of 1709

12. Statute of Anne – England, 1709
AKA The Copyright Act of 1709
AKA An Act for the Encouragement
of Learning, by vesting the Copies
of Printed Books in the Authors or
purchasers of such Copies, during
the Times therein mentioned.

13. Statute of Anne – England, 1709
• First Copyright Statute
• Granted publishers legal protection for 14
years, renewable for another 14.
• First law to acknowledge authorship,
although copyright was primarily a concern
for the publishers.

14. US Copyright Law
• First law (1790) allowed for 14 years,
renewable for another 14.
• Purpose, according to US Constitution, was “to
promote the progress of Science and useful
Arts, by securing for limited times to authors
and inventors, the exclusive Right to their
Writings and Discoveries.”

15. US Copyright Law
Its purpose was to strike a balance between:
1. Encouraging creativity by giving exclusive
rights to creations.

16. US Copyright Law
Its purpose was to strike a balance between:
1. Encouraging creativity by giving exclusive
rights to creations.
2. Giving the public the freest possible access to
creative works and ideas.

17. US Copyright Law
2 Central Ideas
• Idea/Expression Dichotomy
– Copyright Protects an ideas expression, but not
the idea itself.
– Codified in 1976: “In no case does copyright
protection for an original work of authorship
extend to any idea, procedure, process, system,
method of operation, concept, principle or
discovery, regardless of the form in which it is
described, explained, illustrated or embodied in
such work.”

18. US Copyright Law
2 Central Ideas
• FAIR USE (Sect. 107)
– Also codified in 1976
– Provides exception for exclusive rights in certain
cases.
– “For purposes such as criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.”

19. US Copyright Law
2 Central Ideas
• FAIR USE (Sect. 107)
– Fair use is judged by certain criteria:
1. Purpose and Character of Use (commercial or
educational/nonprofit)
2. Nature of copyrighted work
3. Portion used in relation to work as a whole.
4. Effect of the use on potential market for the
work.

20. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
• 1831 – 28 years with 14-year renewal

21. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
• 1831 – 28 years with 14-year renewal
• 1909 – 28 years with 28-year renewal

22. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
• 1831 – 28 years with 14-year renewal
• 1909 – 28 years with 28-year renewal
• 1976 – 75 years (corporate) or life of author +
50 years

23. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
• 1831 – 28 years with 14-year renewal
• 1909 – 28 years with 28-year renewal
• 1976 – 75 years (corporate) or life of author +
50 years
• 1998 – Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act
– Life of author + 75 years or:
– Corporate Authorship: 120 years after creation or
95 years after publication

24. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
And Finally….

25. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
The Digital Millennium
Copyright Act
(1998)

26. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
2 Major Provisions

27. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
2 Major Provisions
1. Anti-Circumvention:
Criminalizes production of any technologies which
interfere with Digital Rights Management (DRM)

28. US Copyright Law
Key Changes since 1790
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act
2 Major Provisions
1. Anti-Circumvention:
Criminalizes production of any technologies which
interfere with Digital Rights Management (DRM)
2. Infringement Liability Limitation:
Creates safe harbor for service providers (OSPs, ISPs)
Who respond to takedown notices from copyright
holders. (Also provides for counter-notification,
although this is often not in the OSP’s interest)

29. Roots of Remix:
Appropriation in Art, Film, and Music

30. Roots of Remix:
Every major school of art, and (arguably) every artist, has
used creative appropriation in some form in creating their
work.

31. Roots of Remix:
DADA:
John Heartfield Hanna Hoch Marcel Duchamp

32. Roots of Remix:
POP:
Roy Lichtenstein Andy Warhol Tom Wesselmann
For more examples, watch this short video

33. Roots of Remix:
Film: 1928
Steamboat Bill, Jr. Steamboat Willie

34. Roots of Remix:
Film: 1936
Joseph Cornell: Rose Hobart (clip)

35. Roots of Remix:
Film: 2010
Sex & The Remix Helping Johnny Remember
Elisa Kreisinger Ashleigh Nankivell

36. Roots of Remix:
Film: 2010
Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung: In G.O.D. We Trust

37. Roots of Remix:
Music: 1991
Negativland: U2

38. Roots of Remix:
Music: Hip-Hop/Sampling
DJ Kool Herc
• Jamaica  Bronx, 1967
• Brought “versioning” from
Jamaica
• Pioneered looping Break Beats
at block parties
• Birth of Rap (Party MCs) and B-
boys/B-girls (aka break dancers)

39. Roots of Remix:
Music: Hip-Hop/Sampling
Grandmaster Flash
• 1981: “The Adventures of
Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of
Steel”
• First documented use of ‘scratching’
• The single sampled:
• “Rapture” (Blondie)
• “Apache” (Michael Viner)
• “Another One Bites the Dust”
(Queen)
• “Good Times” (Chic)
• “Freedom” (The Furious Five)
Listen

40. Roots of Remix:
Music: Hip-Hop/Sampling
The Beastie Boys
• 1989: “Paul’s Boutique”
• Record contained 105 samples
• 24 Samples on the last track alone
Listen

41. Roots of Remix:
Music: Hip-Hop/Sampling
2 Landmark Cases
1989: 2 Live Crew 1991: Biz Markie
“Pretty Woman” “Alone Again”

42. Roots of Remix:
Music: Hip-Hop/Sampling
2 Landmark Cases: Rulings
2 Live Crew
Biz Markie
Campbell vs. Acuff-Rose Music
The Supreme Court found that the song was
parody, and thus protected under fair use.
Grand Upright Music vs. Warner Bros. Records
US District Court found that the song
infringed the original artist’s copyright, and
ordered that all future music samples be
cleared for use before publishing.

43. Roots of Remix:
Music: Hip-Hop/Sampling
2010: Girl Talk
• Music is comprised almost entirely of
samples.
• His 2008 album “Feed the Animals” has
a total of 322 samples
• Offers his records online on a “pay-
what-you-like” basis.

44. AUTHORSHIP

45. Remix Culture Today

46. Remix Culture Today
Lawrence Lessig
www.lessig.org
Books:
• Remix (2008)
• Free Culture (2005)
• The Future of Ideas (2002)
• Code (2000)

47. Remix Culture Today
Cory Doctorow
www.craphound.com
www.boingboing.net
Books:
• Content (2008)
• For the Win (2010)
• Makers (2009)
• Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom
(2003)

48. Remix Culture Today
Henry Jenkins
www.henryjenkins.org
Books:
• Convergence Culture (2008)
• Fans, Bloggers & Gamers (2006)
• The Wow Climax (2006)
• Textual Poachers (1992)

49. Remix Culture Today
A nonprofit organization working to increase the
amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and
scientific content) in “the commons” — the body
of work that is available to the public for free and
legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing.
Creative Commons
www.creativecommons.org
• License Your Work
• Find Licensed Work

50. Remix Culture Today
• Founded in 1990
• Coalition of lawyers, analysts,
activists and technologists
•Actively defends:
•Free Speech
•Privacy
•Innovation
•User Rights
Electronic Frontier Foundation
www.eff.org

51. Remix Culture Today
Open Video Alliance – openvideoalliance.org
•A coalition of organizations and individuals devoted to free and
open technologies, policies and practices in online video.
•Holds Open Video Conference every year
Organization for Transformative Works
transformativeworks.org
• A nonprofit organization run by and for fans to provide access to and
preserve the history of fan works and fan culture.

52. Remix Culture Today
RE/Mixed Media Festival 2011
• Musicians
• Painters
• Photographers
• Filmmakers
• Sound Artists
• Fashion
Spring, 2011
www.remixedmedia.org
www.lofinyc.org (2010 site)
info@remixedmedia.org