My first, and honestly almost only, experience with what Lawrence Lessig calls “remix” was putting together a simple slideshow of pictures of my high school’s production of The Wizard of Oz. We showed it at the cast party and a couple of kids asked us to put it up on YouTube. No one was expecting to go make money off of it; we just wanted to show off our awesome costumes, set, and memories. After going through hours of editing and cutting to make it fit the 10 minute time limit, we pushed submit.
The next day, we found that our video wouldn’t be posted because it contained the song “Home” by Switchfoot. We were frustrated to say the least. Switchfoot should have been honored that we wanted to put our favorite memories to their song. I would’ve been if I were an artist, even if I were rich and famous.
Well, in the end it wasn’t worth the time and effort of going through and trying to find song that fit as perfectly with our pictures as this one did, and a song that would be allowed on YouTube. Our video was never posted.
As you can see, my experience with "remix" has been very limited. My family has never been one to get into the “Remix” culture, so I haven’t necessarily connected personally to the book. Lessig, however, makes sure that his reader is engaged, no matter who they are or what their opinions are. I am one who is engaged, and consequently learns, by real life stories. So, the stories behind Amazon, Google, and other top websites have piqued my interest. Once I've gotten a little bit better idea of how this idea of "remix" works, I'll let you know.
[p.s. i’ve found it really interesting reading about the power of using the people who use your product to make your product better. therefore, my next book to read is Crowdsourcing by jeff howe. who knew? my next book to read of my own choice is a digital culture book. we're turning over a new leaf!]
This is pretty similar to my experience with the book and everything it discussed. But, I feel that through taking this course, we'll have a lot more exposure to the intricacies of copyright that Lessig takes issue with. It's all about what we're allowed to share, and this class is all about sharing, so I'm sure what we learned by reading this book keep rearing its head throughout this term.
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