With the realization setting in that stopping SOPA was just the beginning rather than the end of an ongoing struggle, calls are being raised to take proactive rather than reactive responses to such legislation. Rip. Mix. Make. is a creative campaign supporting fair use of creative work in remix videos that represents one proactive approach to issues of copyright.
The campaign calls for comments to the Copyright Office regarding creative exemptions to the Digital Rights Management provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. You have 8 more days to participate in this campaign.
Rip. Mix. Make. is a project of Kirby Smith, creator of the web video series "Everything is a Remix," and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the leading organizations in the fight for digital freedom.
According to the Rip. Mix. Make. website, it is mandated that every three years, "in an effort to ensure that these DRM mechanisms would not impede lawful uses of copyrighted works," the U.S. Copyright Office and the Librarian of Congress hold a DMCA rulemaking proceeding to consider exemption requests:
"In the 2012 rulemaking, EFF is asking the Copyright Office...for legal protections for artists and critics who use excerpts from DVDs or downloading services to create new, remixed works. These exemptions build on and expand exemptions that EFF won on the 2009 rulemaking proceeding for jailbreakers and remix artists."
A related campaign by the EFF, Jailbreaking Is Not A Crime, addresses the right to use purchased equipment as one wishes, a right that is now of even greater importance as mobile devices become ubiquitous in everyday life.
As a child I remember creating collages out of images found in magazines. Later I came to understand that such techniques were developed by modern artists who helped change our understanding of art. So when remix culture began to emerge on a more widespread level, I was surprised at the intensity of the attack on the fair use of copyrighted content in the creation of new works. Though I'm not supportive of the overly simplistic "all piracy is good" stance of some web pundits, I do feel that overly controlling use of copyright protection has undermined creativity and the development of new art forms.
As EFF Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz states:
"Overreaching copyright law can hurt Americans' free expression and innovation rights. That's what we are fighting in Congress with the Internet blacklist bills like SOPA and PIPA, and it's what we are fighting here."
You have 8 days to support Rip. Mix. Make. and Jailbreaking Is Not A Crime by adding your comments for the Copyright Office. Please do so now!
More from Musicians on Remix Culture:
DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, on Remix Culture
Girl Talk on the Process of Remixing Culture
Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith maintains his freelance writing hub at Flux Research and music industry resources at Music Biz Blogs. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
