From the maker of Sita Sings the Blues comes a new short film that artistically delivers a simple message: “All creative work builds on what came before.” Using artifacts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nina Paley draws the visual conclusion that art borrows and remixes – that nothing is really out of the box. This argument resonates for some. For others, it falls flat. Either way, the film is worth a watch. (You can download high-res and Ogg versions at the Internet Archive.)
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Everything is a Remix (A Short Film)
It’s funny. It used to be an insult when someone said your work was “derivative.” To say that art builds on what came before it is an extremely trivial statement. It can also be said of philosophy, science, and civilization in general. What distinguishes creative work from uncreative work — what defines it — is that it brings into existence something which did not exist before. If a work is highly derivative it isn’t very creative; if it’s wholly derivative, it isn’t creative at all.
We have a moral responsibility to – a contract with – our ancestors to hand down their creativity to our descendants; and if possible to build creatively upon it in the process.
This philosophy is part of what makes us human; and copyright augers directly against it.
To whom do we owe the use of wheel? We owe it to our ancestors to better it for our descendants. Certainly not some dick-bag wheel-patent troll.