Open Source and Copyright

In this Ted Talk, Lawrence Lessig is talking about read/write creativity and it’s effect on our society and our generation. Read/write is a culture where consumers (us) can also create in addition to just consuming what is put out there. You and me can respond and make something new. I specifically like what he says at the end of his lecture; “as we see what this technology can do we need to recognize you can’t kill the instinct that technology produces, you can only criminalize it.” I also like how he says that copyright laws force or motivate people to create more because I have seen this to be true. By remixing he means we take things that are one thing and remix them to be something slightly or completely different. We can use our creativity to take an idea and make it our own by remixing it into something unique. He says how this isn’t a hard thing to do as long as you have access to a computer because this is essentially the digital ages form of “writing.” This is how our generation does things. I’m sure we have all seen silly remixes and mashups on YouTube that have gone viral. Larry Lessig is arguing here that artists make their work more available. He thinks that content should grow and expand and that we should have the opportunity for our generation to grow. But unfortunately we live in an era where we are seen as pirates because of the unnecessarily stringent copyright laws. Now, Lessig isn’t saying we should plagiarize or go into a movie theater and film something to pretend it is our own. What he is saying is that we should have the ability to use certain content that is on the web create our own version.