Lessig L 2008 Remix Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy Penguin

2008 book by Lawrence Lessig

Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy

Writer	Lawrence Lessig
Publisher	Penguin Printing
Publication date	2008
Pages	352
ISBN	978-1-59420-172-1
OCLC	213308970
Preceded by	Code: Version 2.0
Followed past	Republic, Lost

Remix: Making Fine art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy is Lawrence Lessig's fifth book. The book was made available for free download and remixing^[one] under the CC By-NC^[two] Creative Commons license via Bloomsbury Academic.^[3] Information technology is still available via the Internet Annal.^[4] Information technology details a hypothesis about the societal issue of the Internet, and how this volition affect product and consumption of popular culture to a "remix culture".

Summary [edit]

In Remix, Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard law professor and a respected voice in what he deems the "copyright wars", describes the disjuncture between the availability and relative simplicity of remix technologies and copyright law. Lessig insists that copyright law equally information technology stands at present is antiquated for digital media since every "time you use a creative piece of work in a digital context, the technology is making a copy".^[5] Thus, amateur apply and appropriation of digital technology is under unprecedented control that previously extended only to professional use.

Lessig insists that knowledge and manipulation of multi-media technologies is the current generation's course of "literacy"- what reading and writing was to the previous. It is the vernacular of today. The children growing up in a earth where these technologies permeate their daily life are unable to cover why "remixing" is illegal. Lessig insists that amateur appropriation in the digital age cannot be stopped simply but 'criminalized'. Thus nigh corrosive outcome of this tension is that generations of children are growing upwardly doing what they know is "illegal" and that notion has societal implications that extend far beyond copyright wars. The volume is now bachelor as a free download under i of the Creative Eatables' licenses (CC BY-NC 3.0^{[half dozen] [7]}).^[eight]

Read-only civilisation vs. read/write culture [edit]

Lessig outlines two cultures - the read-only culture (RO) and the read/write culture (RW). The RO civilization is the culture we swallow more or less passively. The information or product is provided to the states by a 'professional' source, the content industry, that possesses an dominance on that particular production/information. Analog technologies inherently supported RO culture's business model of production and distribution and limited the role of the consumer to just that, 'consuming'.

Digital applied science, however, does non have the 'natural' constraints of the analog that preceded it. "What before was both incommunicable and illegal is now but illegal"(38). Steve Jobs was the start to run into potential in this new market place fabricated possible past digital technology. RO civilisation had to be recoded in order to compete with the "free" distribution made possible by the Net. iTunes Music shop was proof of this. While it provided digital music information technology was protected by a Digital Rights Direction (DRM) code from re-distribution. Lessig uses this key example to testify that it is possible to achieve a business model which balances access and control and is every bit attractive to both the consumers and the creators. In improver, digital technologies take changed the way we think virtually 'access'. Today, most of us would never construction our twenty-four hours around a particular plan because we know that it is near likely available online - even if it is not necessarily free of charge. Lessig insists, using Amazon as his premiere example, that the future of entertainment and advert lies in accumulating information nearly a consumer and tailoring the product to their preferences.

Every bit opposed to RO civilisation, Read/Write culture has a reciprocal relationship between the producer and the consumer. Taking works, such as songs, and appropriating them in private circles is exemplary of RW culture, which was considered to exist the 'popular' culture before the advent of reproduction technologies. The technologies and copyright laws that soon followed, however, changed the dynamics of popular culture. Equally it became professionalized people were taught to defer production to the professionals.

Lessig posits that digital technologies provide the tools for reviving RW culture and democratizing production. He uses blogs to explain the 3 layers of this democratization. Blogs have redefined our human relationship to the content industry as they allowed admission to not-professional content. The 'comments' characteristic that shortly followed provided a space for readers to have a dialogue with the amateur contributors. 'Tagging' of the blogs by users based on the content provided the necessary layer for users to filter the ocean of content according to their involvement. The third layer added bots that analyzed the relationship betwixt various websites past counting the clicks betwixt them and, thus, organizing a database of preferences. The 3 layers working together established an "ecosystem of reputation"(61) that served to guide users through the blogosphere. Lessig uses the web log model to demonstrate a wider conclusion - while there is no doubt many amateur online publications cannot compete with the validity of professional sources, the democratization of digital RW culture and the 'ecosystem of reputation' provides a space for many talented voices to be heard that was not available in the pre-digital RO model.

Hybrid Economies [edit]

There are three economies that Lessig introduced in his book. The first is the commercial economy. Commercial Economies at their very center value money the most and build value around the monetary. Second to this is the sharing economy which completely ignores coin as an item of value and instead focuses on valuing things that are not monetary.^[9] Just settled in between the ii is a 3rd, the hybrid economy. He asserts that the hybrid economy will be the dominant force with the ascent of the spider web, and in order for it thrive the two economies from which it borrows from must exist preserved. Conceptually the monetizing nature from the commercial, and the 'lending' quality of the sharing economy are necessary to ensure that the hybrid doesn't lose sight of economic gain or doesn't lose the willingness to obtain economical resources.

The Internet and Eatables

The internet is essentially the hub for this type of economy. With more people utilizing it as a platform for sharing and monetizing, the cyberspace's master role is split in two. In order for people to 'Remix' they demand the internet for its open and free design.

Remix, according to Lessig, is not solely digital, but also relates to the act of reading and applying texts to their personal life. Culturally, critically taking in what is going on (the original content) and developing an opinion that can exist shared and given transformed meaning, is also considered remixing.^[10]

Most of the debate in Remix is in regard to buying. Due to the fact that remixing is limitless, it becomes hard to stop. Every mix becomes a resource for another new mix and expands to others even if they are never seen.^[10] When it comes to the cyberspace, ownership has become a murky subject area. Companies who originated a piece of work are owners of that product, but only if it is copyrighted and protected legally. That being said, people without admission to these legalities are unprotected and liable to get their ideas and content stolen. This is where the eatables becomes prevalent.

He defines the commons as resources that are bachelor for everyone equally in a sure group.^[11] The internet was invented for flexible accessibility and thus facilitates innovation. This is Lessig's philosophy, however the upshot comes with a price tag. The fight to define who owns a creative work of art if information technology contains other works not endemic by the party is what Lessig says is "killing creativity". Although people have go used to this, he argues that it is for this reason that he claims that it is an effort at "counterrevolution".^[12]

Free Software

Notably Richard Stallman is vocal most his stance on the positive repercussions of utilizing complimentary software, namely Linux. Essentially both Stallman and Lessig are on the same page. When it comes to 'hybrid' economies, Linux fits the description with its selling point being "benefits", instead of "features".^[thirteen] This on its own has no standing for 'justice' but rather the profitability of such a software.

Remixing is this software's very nature. The entreatment is to "sell" the benefits of its use. People no longer take to wait for a visitor to prepare bugs, or other issues with the software and instead they can interact and ultimately do it themselves. This can be done with other software, only the downside is that legally with paid proprietary software at that place are repercussions to prevent, the software from being "remixed" and sold as an culling "original"'.

The Prevalence of YouTube [edit]

YouTube's growing issue in copyright claims

With the internet comes what Lessig described every bit community spaces, with site YouTube up for major contend for its ability to both provide original content and exist as an open bank for content to Remix. The website provides users a domain to not but consume, just to brand creative content. Creativity in this sense, relates to the combining of elements or materials with an individuals original ideas to create a unique product.^[14] Lessig has had his own fight with the platform when his Lecture got taken downwards in 2013 on grounds of violating Copyright laws due to a song from the band Phoenix being used in function of the presentation. Withal, due to the not-commercialized and transformed nature of his usage, the video should accept fallen nether Off-white use.^[15] This issue is an instance of exactly what he is fighting for.

In addition to the Digital Millennium Copyright Deed of 1998, YouTube also allows the claimant to place advertisements on the video. This is done as retribution for using or allowing copyrighted media in the video, and allows the user to continue the video up without having to bargain with legalities.^[16] The website is taking the accent off of the creation, and placing it on the monetary value that information technology holds. Lessig argues that these bug should be separated when it comes to apprentice non commercialized content.

With growing frequency, YouTube has begun copyright striking, and taking downwardly videos that appear to have claimed content in them in whatsoever way. Without the claim in question, to exist the main feature in the video, it can merely exist a song playing in the background that tin accept a user's work off the spider web. While original content featuring sole a user's own ideas and content does be, this is not the focus of Remixing, or Lessig's point. It is not solely creating new and unique ideas with novelty resources, only instead pulling from multiple sources to requite way to new products.

To that Lessig's rebuttal is that the work made on such platforms should be free of legal buying aside from its originator. These new products leverage the references in their original work in order to build a new and dissimilar significant; which has no implications of being 'meliorate' or 'worse' than its origin.

The remix [edit]

Lessig argues that today digital civilisation permeates our lifestyle to such extent - an boilerplate teenager will spend an hour per weekend mean solar day using the calculator for leisure and simply 7 minutes reading - that "it is no surprise that these other forms of 'creating' are becoming an increasingly dominant form of 'writing'"(69). Previous generations used textual quotes to build on writings before them. Today, this process of quoting or collage is manifest through digital media. The remix utilizes the (multi-media) language through which the current generations communicate. They quote content from various sources to create something "new". Thus, the remix provides a commentary on the sounds and images it utilizes the same way a disquisitional essay provides commentary on the texts it quotes. One of Lessig's favorite remix examples is the "Bush-league and Blair Love Song" which remixes images of President Bush and Tony Blair to brand information technology appear as if they are lip-synching Lionel Richie's "Endless Love". "The message couldn't be more powerful: an emasculated Great britain, equally captured in the puppy love of its leader for Bush-league" (74). This remix in Lessig's optics is exemplary of the power this blazon of expression holds - to non tell but evidence. Using preexisting images is vital to the art form because the product of meaning draws heavily on cultural reference an epitome or sound brings with it.

Their meaning comes not from the content of what they say; it comes from the reference, which is expressible only if information technology is the original that gets used.^[17]

Lessig describes the remix phenomenon instrumental in creating cultural literacy and a critical view of media and advertizing that permeates our daily lives. But, as it stands today, copyright police will inhibit didactics employing these digital forms of literacy for institutions volition shy away from use that might be deemed 'illegal'. Yet, Lessig reiterates, the remix form of expression cannot be killed, only criminalized.

Commercial economies vs. sharing economies [edit]

In addition to describing two cultures Lessig also proposes two economies: the commercial and the sharing. The commercial economic system is governed by the simple logic of the marketplace, where products and services have a tangible economic value, be information technology money or labor. The Net has been extremely successful as a portal for commercial economies to flourish - improving existing businesses and serving as a platform for thousands of new ones. Information technology has been exceptionally fruitful of businesses that cater to a niche market place - exemplified by such companies as Amazon and Netflix which provide a range of items that could non be accommodated by one physical space. This dynamic has been outlined by Wired''s editor in chief, Chris Anderson, in his book The Long Tail. Another obvious success story of a digital commercial economy is Google, which has managed to create value from value others take already created.

The sharing economy functions outside monetary substitution. We all belong to sharing economies - most obvious examples are our friendships and relationships. This economy is regulated non by a metric of price but by a set up of social relations. Like the commercial economy, the sharing economy extends into the digital realm. Lessig's favorite example is Wikipedia itself. The top 10 virtually visited website relies on user contribution - from cosmos to editing - for its content and gives no monetary incentive for this contribution. While providing the option of anonymity, the users of Wikipedia have been remarkably consistent with the site's suggestions - be it regarding consequent aesthetic or neutral point of view. A vital feature of a successful sharing economy is people are in it because they want to be.

Hybrids [edit]

Lessig does a number of case studies of three types of successful hybrids.

[edit]

Lessig cites sites such every bit Dogster, Craigslist, Flickr, and YouTube every bit successful internet community spaces that answer demand of the users who, in turn, reciprocate through sharing content and self-regulating past flagging inappropriate content. At the same fourth dimension the sites make acquirement through advertisements just are extremely careful to not overwhelm the users and disrupt the sense of community.

Collaboration spaces [edit]

Collaboration hybrids centre on the belief of the users that they are working towards a common goal or edifice something together. Lessig's notable examples are volunteers of Usenet that help those technologically in demand solve computer problems – from minor to circuitous. They are not paid or recognized by Microsoft nevertheless they are instrumental in building value for the company. Similarly, Yahoo! Answers launched in December 2005 has gathered an enormous following of people answering other people'due south questions for free. They do not participate for any incentive other than to share their expertise and assist others. In this category Lessig also cites the now infamous Heather Lawver 2000 case after the teenager started a fan site for J.One thousand. Rowling's Harry Potter series, only to be constantly 'threatened' by Warner for illegal use of copyrighted content. Eight years afterward many large corporations have, at least in function, learned from Warner's error and Lawver'due south persuasive statement of the Potter Wars: fans are "a part of your marketing budget that you lot don't have to pay for". Thus lighter control of content use allows fans to share their appropriation of content while promoting it free. Everyone wins.

Communities [edit]

Lessig's 3rd category lacks the 'spaces' qualification of the previous two considering they create a community on a much grander, or more than comprehensive calibration. One such community is Second Life through which users can immerse themselves in a virtual environs and build a multi-faceted life not different real life but without the same limitations, while creating value by producing and sharing new codes for the program.

Lessig concludes that a feeling of ownership and contribution is vital to making hybrid communities role. These communities are not built on sacrifice but on common satisfaction in which both the consumer and producer benefit.

Parallel economies can coexist, the writer insists, and are not mutually exclusive. In fact, crossover is non uncommon, specially in the world of the Artistic Commons which Lessig helped found. Many artists that have initially licensed their piece of work under a CC license, that allowed others to share and remix their work equally long every bit they were credited, have used the momentum from this visibility to crossover to the commercial economy.

Lessig warns that hybrid economies will exercise well to avoid what he calls sharecropping, that is corporations forcing the remixer to give up the correct to his/her creation (providing they don't own the rights to all/some of its components) even if they program to use their work for commercial purposes.

The hybrid that respects the rights of the creator - both the original creator and the remixer - is more likely to survive than the ane that doesn't. ^[18]

Reforming copyright law [edit]

Lessig outlines five steps that will put united states of america on the path towards more efficient and sound copyright law.

1. Deregulating Amateur Action. Primarily this ways exempting noncommercial and, particularly amateur, use from the rights granted by copyright. In addition, this loosening of control volition, in plough, remove some of the burden from the corporations' monitoring for misuse of their content.
2. Clear Title. Every bit of at present, in that location is no comprehensive and accessible registry that lists who owns rights to what. In addition to making the in a higher place clear, Lessig insists that author/owner should have to register their piece of work in order to extend the copyright afterwards a shorter menses of time and for the work, otherwise, to enter public domain. He insists that this change would be instrumental to digital archiving and admission for educational purposes.
3. Simplify. Edifice on his previous suggestions, Lessig insists that the system should be simplified. If a child is expected to comply with copyright constabulary, they should be able to empathise it.
4. Decriminalizing the Copy. As mentioned before the product of the 'copy' is a commonplace in daily transaction inside the digital realm. If our daily activity triggers federal regulation on copyright police, it ways that this regulation reaches too far. Thus the law must be rearticulated every bit to not include uses that are irrelevant to copyright owner'due south control.
5. Decriminalizing File Sharing. Lessig suggests this should be done either by "authorizing at least noncommercial file sharing with taxes to cover a reasonable royalty to the artists whose work is shared, or past authorizing a uncomplicated blanket licensing procedure, whereby users could, for a low fee, buy the right to freely file-share" ^[nineteen]

Conclusion [edit]

In his final chapter "Reforming United states of america", Lessig insists that in club to move towards ending the senseless copyright wars, which are mostly harming our children, we must understand that governmental control has its limits.

The children growing upwards in a digital historic period are seeing these laws as senseless and decadent and, more than chiefly, trivial as they continue to remix and download despite it. Lessig warns that this phenomenon can accept a larger trickle-downward effect towards a child'southward view of law in general. When put in this light, copyright reform carries much larger implications for the morality of the digital age generations.

Aside from morality of the generation, Lessig asserts that due to legislation being either too passive or as well stern information technology creates the lack of understanding from policy makers.^[20] This assertion leads to the truthful meaning of [[w:fair use| off-white use]].

In popular civilisation [edit]

On an episode of The Colbert Written report with Lessig as a guest, Stephen Colbert made fun of the book's status under Creative Eatables by taking a re-create, signing information technology, and and so proclaiming it the 'Colbert' edition for auction. Lessig laughed.^[21]

Run across also [edit]

• Remix Culture
• An Army of Davids
• Free Culture

References [edit]

1. ^ Download Lessig'south Remix, And then Remix Information technology on wired.com (May 2005)
2. ^ Remix on lessig.org
3. ^ remix on Bloomsbury Academic (2008, archived)
4. ^ "Remix past Lawrence Lessig". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2009-05-09 . CC BY-NC-ND
5. ^ Lessig, Lawrence. 2008. Remix: making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economic system. New York: Penguin Press. p. 71
6. ^ Remix on remix.lessig.org
7. ^ Remix Archived 2016-04-02 at the Wayback Motorcar on scribd.com
8. ^ Eric Hellman (2011-ten-12). "The Clawback of @lessig's "Remix"".
9. ^ Lessig, Lawrence (2008). Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in a Hybrid Economy (1 ed.). Penguin Press. p. 177. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
10. ^ ^{a b} Michele, Knobel; Colin, Lankshear. "Remix: the art and craft of endless hybridization: digital remix provides an educationally useful lens on culture and cultural product besides every bit on literacy and literacy didactics" (PDF). blogs.ubc.ca. International Reading Association. Retrieved November thirteen, 2019.
11. ^ Lessig, Lawrence. "The Net Under Siege". Galileo . Retrieved November 9, 2019.
12. ^ Lessig, Lawrence. "The Cyberspace Under Siege". Galileo . Retrieved Nov x, 2019.
13. ^ Lessig, Lawrence (2008). Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in a Hybrid Economic system (1 ed.). Penguin Press. p. 177. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
14. ^ Courtois, Cédric; Mechant, Peter; De Marez, Lieven (March 2012). "Communicating Creativity on YouTube: What and for Whom?". Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 15 (three): 129–134. doi:10.1089/cyber.2011.0401. hdl:1854/LU-1920104. ISSN 2152-2715. PMID 22304403.
15. ^ "A Win For Fair Use Later on Tape Label, Copyright Lawyer Settle". NPR.org . Retrieved 2019-12-04 .
16. ^ Collins, Steve (2014-05-04). "YouTube and limitations of fair utilise in remix videos". Journal of Media Practice. fifteen (2): 92–106. doi:ten.1080/14682753.2014.960764. ISSN 1468-2753.
17. ^ Lessig, Lawrence. 2008. Remix: making fine art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy. New York: Penguin Printing. p. 74
18. ^ Lessig, Lawrence. 2008. Remix: making fine art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economic system. New York: Penguin Press.
19. ^ Lessig, Lawrence. 2008. Remix: making fine art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economic system. New York: Penguin Press. p. 271
20. ^ Lessig, Lawrence (March 2007), Laws that Choke Creativity , retrieved 2019-10-27
21. ^ "The Colbert Written report with Lawrence Lessig". colbertnation.com. 2009-01-09.

External links [edit]

• Official site
• Creative Commons
• Book sources: ISBN 1-59420-172-ii
• Remix downloads on Annal.org
• Lessig'southward article "Copyright and Politics Don't Mix", October 21, 2008 in The New York Times
• Volume give-and-take with Lessig on Remix, Nov xviii, 2008 on c-span.org

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remix_%28book%29

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