QCQ for _(name the reading) Remix: How Creativity Is Being Strangled by the Law – Lessig
Quotation (with page number or paragraph number or time-stamp if video/audio)
“The existing system of copyright simply could never work in the digital age. Either we will force our kids to stop creating, or they will force on us a revolution around copyright law.” (pg. 167)
Comment (250-500 words)
I chose this specific quotation because it discusses both the main claim that the article is making, along with the incentive for the claim. What Lessig is arguing is that if we continue this war against piracy in the digital world, in areas of “remixing” not straight copying, we will diminish the create light that this generation currently has with online creativity. Putting such constraints on what kids can create online these days will lead to them no longer creating or forming anger around the entire concept of copyright. What Lessig wants to emphasize is that copyright is very important. The way we work while sharing creatively depends on it; however, only to a certain extent. If you throw piracy claims on a child for making a YouTube video, singing Happy Birthday to their friends or family, the video could be removed. This would result in utter frustration from a kid just trying to do a nice thing. Absolutely no one is hurt in this situation in my opinion. It all depends on the severity of the copyright situation. If someone writes a thesis about Mars, for example, and someone copies an entire 5 paragraphs of the paper, playing it off as their own, THAT is plagiarism. That deserves to be punished. If someone downloads some YouTubers vlogs and reposts them onto their own account to make their own profit (not changing anything), that deserves consequences. However, if someone is reacting to that YouTuber’s vlogs and adds commentary, crediting the original creator, that should not be punished.
I could go on and on continuing the same point, so I am going to wrap up here. Lessig just simply wants to express that the current war of copyright might soon lead to a decline in creative activity online (so as the penalties for breaking copyright rules increase in severity or even remain the same). Reform of currency copyright laws is needed if we want to create a safe space to share and bounce off each other’s creations.
Question
Are reaction videos really adding enough personal commentary that they should be free of any copyright punishment? I believe (depending on the video of course). What do you think?
