RiP: A Remix Manifesto

Last night I watched Rip: A Remix Manifesto, a documentary about copyright law, Girl Talk and copyfighters, put out by the NFB. You can to if you want, in the spirit of the freedom of information and culture, director Brett Gaylor and the NFB (seriously kudos to the NFB for supporting this film) put the website up in a series of chapters for you to watch.

I'm going to say this flat out in the interests of full disclosure that before I had seen this movie I was already pretty convinced of the majority of the copyright reform this movie suggests and encourages. In almost every situation free access to ideas, culture and information regardless of who created it is good for society. This movie only reinforced my feelings; with me at least, it was preaching to the converted.

That out of the way this movie did succinctly put all the arguments in favour of copyright reform into one movie. From the hypocrisy of some of the most rigid defenders of copyright, such as Disney who rose to prominence by retelling stories in the public domain and then going to court every time Mickey Mouse was about to become free. To the lives saved by Brazil's refusal to recognize the copyright on HIV drugs and proceeded to rip off the pharmaceutical process to make their own cheap drugs to help treat HIV victims. The movie is centered around the idea that those who hold the rights to creations of the past (and profit from them) are locked in a battle against those who want to build upon the ideas of the past.

The movie was a who's who of those who can be identified as the heroes and leaders of the copyfight/copyleft movement. In addition to Girl Talk, Negativland, Air Pirates, William S. Burroughs, Lawrence Lessig, Cory Doctorow, Napster and Gilberto Gil all made appearances as did the regular cast of copyright villains such as Metallica, the RIAA, the MPAA, Disney, Warner/Chappel and the Governator.

The movie is black-and-white in it's copyright-vs-copyleft take on the discussion. It's more complex than this movie presents and to be honest the rights and opinions of emerging artists who aren't into the idea of remix get glossed over. It's entertaining though with the kind of killer soundtrack and images that can only be achieved by completely ignoring getting clearance from the rights holders. If you're even remotely interested in copyright law/illegal downloading/mashup culture you should watch it. Unless you're interested in video editing though I'd skip the blurb Gaylor provides at the end of each chapter urging you to visit his Open Source Cinema project. It drags on.