A documentary is almost like filming an essay. It presents an argument, and then provides some information to support it. Also like an essay, documentaries are biased toward the creator's opinion. RiP: A Remix Manifest tries to argue that copyright laws have gotten out of hand. They limit creativity and the consumer. Fines for downloading music are outrageous. With such a slick film, how can you not agree? Copyright holders are conspiring against us!
The movie's subject definitely isn't a deep look into the human experience, discussing all of the troubles that we face every day. This isn't I am Number Four we're talking about here. But it is an important issue. A lot of people have an opinion on the matter, including me. I'm not about to change my opinion, though.
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| The pinnacle of moviemaking. |
Technically, the movie is very well made. It moves along smoothly, and the filmmaker's argument is definitely well-supported. His argument is effective, though, because it's the only one with any evidence to support it. The pro-copyright side is terribly under represented. More specifically, he argues that the music belongs to the public, and that they are allowed to do whatever it is that they want with it, and obtain it by any means they choose. I only half agree with his point.
I support copyright laws. if I were to create something artful, perhaps even my prose here, I would want to make sure that it belongs to me, and no one else would be able to take my work as their own. I would be crushed if someone was profiting from my work, I don't profit from it. Not using my actual name would probably prevent me from maintaining my copyright, though.
Copyright laws are great in that they protect the creator's rights to exclusively own their work. They have gotten out of hand, though. Current laws have too many restrictions on what happens to people who infringe upon it. In my perfect world, perhaps when I'm king of this one, copyright laws would see an overhaul.
Anyone would be able top take any copyrighted material and edit it however they want, as long as the original creator is credited for it, too. If the modified material makes a profit, then some of these profits have to go to the original creator. If copyrighted material is pirated, instead of charging thousands of dollars, the pirate would only have to pay the same amount as someone who purchased the material through legitimate means.
And maybe pigs will fly, too.
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