Rip! A Remix Manifesto

Brett Gaylor's illuminating documentary Rip! A Remix Manifesto opens with a performance from Girl Talk, whose high-powered dance music consists entirely of samples from other artists' music. Girl Talk is Gregg Gillis, a Pittsburgh biomedical engineer who feels that his work re-contextualizes existing material, but in the eyes of copyright attorneys, Gillis is engaging in criminal activity because he doesn't pay royalties. Aside from acts like Girl Talk and Negativland—who both raid the past—Gaylor's engaging documentary also looks at related copyright subjects ranging from the music-sharing service Napster to the films of Walt Disney (“a mash-up artist,” in writer Cory Doctorow's words, who borrowed freely from the public domain, while also suing anyone who would use his intellectual property in the same manner). The documentary's four-part remix manifesto begins with the claim that “culture always builds on the past,” but Gaylor worries that music publishers, movie studios, and other copyright holders exert too much control over the future, ultimately limiting the free exchange of ideas. By way of example, he cites the Rolling Stones' suit against The Verve over “Bittersweet Symphony,” which draws from the Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra version of the Stones' “The Last Time,” a song that was—in turn—originally based on the Staple Singers' gospel tune “This May Be the Last Time.” Professor Lawrence Lessig (founder of Creative Commons) and Gilberto Gil (former Brazilian Minister of Culture) lend further weight to Gaylor's persuasive argument that copyright law originally meant to protect both creators and consumers has increasingly been shaped to fit the needs of corporate entities. DVD extras include nearly an hour's worth of deleted interview footage featuring Lessig, a selection of mash-up favorites, and several Girl Talk videos. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)