Lawrence Lessig: Re-examining the remix

[crafton200]

I like more the third version ( 5:40 ) than original ( 4:40 ).

Great Lessig's Talk.

[nublex]

good vid all-in-all, the second part was much better

[nublex]

what the fuck, artt and politics should never be mixed. art is for sharring and should belong to nobody

[Wurtsi]

oh my god the animation in the end was amazing!

[ZerqTM]

thats a bad viral video example though... u think extream X is beter..

like Extream rice.... or extream sleeping... excetra

[mooxim]

haha what a lovely little cartoon at the end.

[BenU314159]

Make sure you stay to watch the unrelated cartoon at the end of the video... its funny.

[roidroid]

This hollow guy seems to be 100% made of advertising keywords.

He even tries to audio-visually overwhelm the audience to sneak untruths past people's bullshit filter.

Creepy fucker. I stopped trying to salvage anything worthwhile from it after 8 mins, wrote this comment then just closed the window.

[paniq303]

@roidroid congratulations. you are alone.

[roidroid]

@paniq303 no, you'll find plenty of people with the same opinion in the user comments.

[paniq303]

@roidroid they're all alone. ;)

[roidroid]

@paniq303 haha

[johnbergloff]

Copyright law does should not be tied into politics. And he needs a history lesson.

[corpconsumer]

I think most ppl commenting on this video do not understand his subtle (often ironic) reasons for politics. CC(creative commons) is seen as conservative even tho most supporters r democrats...also, he jokingly comments that republics regulate n "prevent" the market from spreading into certain areas which is supposed to be ironic b/c republicans r all pro-free market. The political reference is entirely ironic b/c these "republican ideals" r and SHOULD be liberal ideals

[zantrua]

@corpconsumer LOL U TK HIM 2 DA BAR|?

[corpconsumer]

Great video. extremely informative like all Lawrence Lessig's videos

this is a needed reform in our intellectual property laws. it is RIDICULOUS that those kids who reformed a recreated movie clip are seen as criminals and are at risk of being sued. Millions of cases just like it, thankfully music industry no longer actually carries out the lawsuits anymore, but it doesn't make the act any less illegal.

[walkersaxplayer]

why didn't they invite the guy who did the video.

[BodaciousBurnley]

Interesting. Controversial. Patently TED.

[shiftyjake]

Am I the only person in the US who knows that until about 80 years ago, Democrats were Republicans and Republicans were Democrats? They somehow managed to switch their politics between prohibition and the Depression. Really. The South was Democrat back when Democrats were the right-wingers and the Republicans (like Lincoln) were the left-wingers. Half of his jabs at Democrats are actually jabs at people who would be Republican today. Not that I support either party. They can all go hang.

[PeeeU]

Pretty much a rage video lol

He does make good points though.

[DeciBass91]

Okay ideas, would have been much better had he dropped the politics, though.. Or if he realized the liberalism/conservatism republican/democrat switch in the 1920s. Either way, this dude is all about labels...

[Apeiron242]

At about 250 something he says that the people sharing food and working at soup kitchens are the same as the Wall Street guys... that seems extremely unlikely.

[Joshlama]

@GrudgyDiablo So what I mean about extremism with copyright is where there is one side (your side) that says that 'copyright should be abollished.'The other side are those who are on an extreme old model of copyright, one that you HAVE to pay the user to watch, download, and use their work, and if you don't, you will be sued out of your livelyhood. What I can see, though there is very little middle ground (CC and GNU)

[Joshlama]

@Joshlama @GrudgyDiablo The problem is is that both sides are growing apart, with very little of them trying to talk to each other to debate and such. If soon noone is talking about this issue, then one side is going to take over, and what I see, it's the extreme old model of copyright.

What we first need is that middleground to grow before anything like you are suggesting ever comes true.

It's unfortunate that (C) is now defending corporations, not the artists or patents.

[promisedeyes]

Lessig is a Democrat? That's news to me. I always pictured him as a libertarian-ish kind of independent free-thinker.

[BLByline]

It seems to me that this talk spends to much time on separating political factions and not enough time looking at Remixing.

[ogrish84]

This clip is crap TED.

[xandrelimadesign]

I didn't like the republican propaganda, but I think he has a good point there. By the way, I think George Lucas was a great thinker in the 70s, but he turned into an evil persuader, a heartless business man, he will put a lawyer behind you right away if you use his material, even when there is no commercial intentions involved. The StarWars mashups is just a silly cover.

[RevnaVarea]

Touhou. /thread

[FelipeValen]

He has a good point, but the democrat and conservative comparison was uncalled-for

[supermaucat]

Lessig also supports Elena Kagan for Supreme Court. Lessig SUCKS!

[1marcelo]

The reason why a republican is against copyright is because copyright and patent law purpose is to protect the creator's and the inventor's rights. Being against creator's rights only favors corporations.

[recabarrennahuel]

What the fuck was this video? A political statement or a social comment?

Free propaganda for the republicans all the time. No thanks you. Thumbs down.

[LedOutMan]

EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH THE OVERLY CAPITALISTIC REGIME OF THE INTERNET AND DMCA IS THE DEMOCRATS FAULT.

/sarcasm

[4074970880]

Totality Agree! If you by the song its yours to put where ever you please..

To sell or make money illegal but for free use? thats just YouTubeRemix Come one!

If anything its promoting the song and or ideas of what ever your trying to convey...

Disney did it! So did Harry Potter 20 years before by JK Rowling 1987, and he took that idea from an earlier concept.. and so on! So STOP IT NOW!!! Rights For ALL or Some!!!

[pjamesbda]

Ub Iwerks. (the creator of Micky Mouse) The example proves your point. However, the bigger part of this question is how we view intellectual property as it relates to our economic system. If we possess ideas, then we would hold these above others, for our profit just as we would any material. Does this protectionism fuel creativity, or stifle it?

[garyclair]

So... it's OK to steal eggs, butter and flour as long as you 'mash it up' and make cake with it??

What about artistic integrity? My experience of watching the breakfast club will be forever associated with that other song and the image of those dancing on building tops.

America takes advantage of it's artists as is. There should be legislation protecting artists rights. not giving them away.. it should be up to the artist to decide what other people are doing with their work.

[flapflapflap4]

free use, woohoo

[aarondkeogh]

the & sign at 3:47 looks like a pair of tits with a dildo in-between

[triforcelink]

I want a version of this world which ONLY contains FREE content, content without ANY strings, and if your content has a SINGLE string, i don't even want to hear about it. YOU place your songs and videos into MY life and YOU expect ME to pay for them? Well GTFO because i'm not going to waste my time untangling your strings because you rolled your yarn ball into my yard.

[carvin160]

@triforcelink ... who is placing their song "strings" in your yard? are you sure you aren't seeking their content out? you seem to be implying that someone is following you around with a boombox, which as far as I know does not happen in reality.

[triforcelink]

@carvin160 because someone IS following me around with a boombox, they WANT me to hear their music, its a trap! They encourage you to express yourself and then when you do, they sue you, and this expectation is the string, you're expected to pay via money, and my payment via remix (which makes the original work more popular) is punished. If i did not know of their content, i could not seek it out, and it would be a better world, because i don't want to be inspired and punished by it.

[deeptracy23]

anyone know the font he used in his presentation?

[pjamesbda]

@deeptracy23 - it is nice.

[piotrezzz]

Th actual issue in this talk was absolutely great, but man ,,, what a disgusting politicizing. I know TED disclaims responsibility of the view and opinions of the speakers, but they don't usually tube stuff this blatant.

Or is it just me?

[bunkmasterflex]

i love all of his points, but think it was needlessly politically motivated the fact is that almost all people are fiscally conservative but socially liberal and both sides of the argument can take each others negative views and use them to influence another's thought as much as he can say the democrats prevent he beauty in this remixed material i can retort with i hope to god none of the people involved were homosexual and banned from marriage and live in a state of reduced right or freedom

[LokiClock]

Awesome. On-air Wikipedia vandalism.

[CityzenJane]

WOW - Will TED and Lessig take on the false flagging and horrible implementation of DMCA on YT which absolutely encourages abuse....I sure hope so..the battle has only been going on for years and tons of youtubers have been totally discouraged from producing content on this platform. PLEASE GET INVOLVED LARRY!

[CityzenJane]

GREAT TALK - CRAPPY FONT! "D

[fauxman]

the primary message is good but putting all the politics in it made this sooooooooooooo much less interesting. It's really too bad. it's TED not DEPT

[mot5600]

right, all democrats and leftists hate creativity and open access.

[fauxman]

I liked his first talk from like 3 years ago. this one kinda makes me not like him

[TheBestNameEverMade]

Interesting you use a mac when talking about freedom :p

[grvyrd1]

our biggest problem/brick wall is the labels in which we use on one another i.e. libertarian, democrat, republican, gay, 

[SayChickpeas]

Wow, what a crap-fest. Way to take a relevant topic and bury it under politically partisan nonsense. There's a reason why there's no "P" in TED... because politics pits us against each other, while TED seeks to unite us. This moron took a legitimate call for change and turned it into something jumbled and universally offensive.

[punkposer]

This video was pretty cool, but what did politics have to do w/ it? I know he used it for reference, and he claims he's switched sides, prob to be a bit more "objective", but this sounded like a 22min long political ad. The best part was the whole wikipedia thing, and that was prob the only real point to his presentation.

[Joshlama]

@GrudgyDiablo I see extremism.

extremism an't changing anything.

[welshblondie]

its not even his own idea! He stole his whole talk from someone else. Just cause he is a somebody he gets the credit for it. Stupid.

[Joshlama]

@welshblondie Well Lessig is an expert on computer, copyright and fair use law - he co-invented Creative Commons, something that has become a staple of Internet creativity (in fine arts), advised the court on some landmark cases (I think U.S. vs Microsoft) and has written books on this subject. While this talk isn't his best (mainly because of him tainting the talk with politics) I don't think you can say that he based his whole talk on someone else. He does give recognition to those in the talk

[jf55555]

what a jerk. way to generalise republicans and democrats.

[admgtz]

I could not get into this talk because of that shitty, stupid font that he was using in his presentation. What was he thinking when he chose that?

[youtubing27]

Yes quite interesting how he makes his point. Even the good guys get it wrong sometime haha.

[LokiumBadger]

Interesting topic, I don't feel as if the politics behind it are as black and white as he makes it out to be.

[spazfox]

I think this gentleman is asking a little much by expecting the viewer to go digging through the mountains of politicized bovine excrement to seek out the tiny nugget of wisdom which MAY be buried within. I can't be arsed.

[310sucks]

God, I'm glad I'm not American.

[eyeojo]

@310sucks agreed: happy your not either!

[sylence7]

I looked up CATO and then I read an article that the NHS system by exaggerating information and saying that the "death panels" are not overblown anymore. my god, when is this lunacy going to end. don't believe ya brahh, i aint hearin it. until the lunatics stop trying to sway credulous people for their cynical money grubbing ideals, then i'll start listening. the NHS WORKS and I can't STAND it when I read bullshit that tries to slander it. PISSES ME OFF.

[HiAdrian]

This guy is the worst of both worlds, a douchebag without being a jock.

[mitchellericglass]

demacrat didn't always mean liberal and republican didn't always men conservative

[chen778]

not sure.

[otur1]

bla, bla, bla!?

[greob]

Interesting and well organized talk, since most of these issues are now very common now.

[gt6303c]

Good points about copyrights, but he horribly mis-characterizes this as a left vs. right issue. The world is not binary, and people on the left or right don't necessarily have fixed positions on every issue. I'm sure many of the creators of those remixed works and of creator commons in general weren't right-wingers. He sets up a false premise in this which undermines the important point of his talk which is about copyright reform.

[OMFGaming]

Very interesing. I would agree with @LiberalViewer that the "left" ad "right" points were a bit overgeneralized, but the main points of this video were brilliant. 5/5

[spidey0102]

Too bad he destroys the first 16 minutes of his video with what sounds to me like a really bad right-wing political agenda, something that should not belong in TED.

[DarkZeroVenarius]

Is there a way to click both , the like and dislike buttons at the same time? :P

No really

I like the values he tries to show.

I dislike the politicial sides viewpoint he tries to push so hard.

[VerboseVindication]

Ugh, I'm not American so I have no idea where the fuck I fit into the political spectrum, but this retarded black and white "everything good is done by republicans, all evil comes from democrats" is pissing me off.

[IdoloR]

Animation at the end > The whole lecture

[deadswans2000]

Bono was a Republican, oh wait that ruins my argument so I'll deny it, laugh about it, and pretend. You're still a Republican.

[LudicrousTachyon]

Wow, now I hate both sides, Dems and Reps alike. We need to be able to choose people not parties.

[ksten17]

@jathgnos I find it funny how you admit to agreeing with some of the things he said but you find it hard to relate just because he has shows some conservative bias. it shouldn't matter where his ideas come from, just what the idea is.

[MusicBySav]

Wonderful video explaining the pros of creative commons. though i was not fond of the political aspect, the rest definitely was great.

[MrCocytus]

wow, This is most definitely one of the worst talks I've ever seen.

[JHGesus]

this talk is one of the less impressive ones I've seen. He uses incredible generalizations and a few weak examples to sell point that could have been made completely out of a political context.

[ChalleFoV3]

some great points, but I don't understand why he is making this political...

[dogg724]

I don't really get the relevance of the "democrat this republican that" mantra at many points.

[yousefamar]

That part of the Wikipedia article was removed completely. :P

[defect530]

this is just to damn boring.

the best copyright video i have seen is RIP: A Remix Manifesto

I highly recommend it. 

[Hikosaemon]

I'm guessing that those thumbing this video down want YouTube to be shut down...

[ikkoikki]

@Hikosaemon No, those giving it a thumbs-down may simply be voicing disagreement with his oversimplification of partizan political creativity.

[Hikosaemon]

@ikkoikki I think anyone who sees it that way doesn't get it. Point is that Lessig is widely seen as part of the far left, and certainly, most CC supporters would generally be liberal and Democrat. I think he phrased the talk in this way to challenge the complacency of Democrat supporters who might wrongly believe that the Democrat party is doing the right thing on copyright, and republicans who might presume their party is pro-corporate domination of copyright. He flipped the stereotypes around

[CityzenJane]

@Hikosaemon Do you really perceive the CC supporters as being mostly lib and Dem...I really don't see that at all!

[Hikosaemon]

@CityzenJane I'm a member of CC myself (in Japan) - the people I meet at staff meetings and conferences definitely tend to be more at the liberal end of the spectrum than conservative in my experience. Of course I can't speak for everyone, but as an organization, CC is often seen as characterized and even slightly stigmatized by its somewhat radical origins as a "copy-left" organization from Stamford.

[Hikosaemon]

@CityzenJane I think that Lessig is perhaps trying to make your point - conservatives shouldn't perceive CC as leftist, nor should CC supporters assume that the left has their backs. This all ties into Lessig's own work at "changecongress" - trying to reform the systems in congress that are leading to unrepresentative and bad lawmaking from both sides.

[CityzenJane]

@Hikosaemon Hmm that is really interesting... I am on the left myself...but I seem to have plenty of friends who are not that seem to get it. The folks that have real trouble with it...that I know are struggling musicians who are decidedly non nerdy/techy - folks musicians who already have trouble making a living...other struggling but talented folks...

(you're right)

[Loki95531]

This guy seems pretty partisan. he has some good points but puts to much emphasis on one political side over the other. Both sides could get a lot more done if they shook hands and worked together. agree to disagree and work through those disagreements.

[LiberalViewer]

Great lecture! I think Lawrence Lessig overgeneralizes a little bit about both the "left" and the "right" in this video, but there's a lot of great stuff here.

I'd still like you to upload the TED talk from Sarah Silverman, though...

Thanks for the video :-)

[Maxstate]

@LiberalViewer He ascribes a left-wing thought to a right-wing party, because of examples of the main right-wing party in the United States making use of the thought.

[RealityZealot]

@LiberalViewer Absolutely!

[BrutticusForce]

@LiberalViewer I agree with your statement. I am a leftist, and I support copy right reform, particularly because I think that the current method of music distribution is bloated and obsolete. Digital distribution is the wave of the future. Artists make most of their money from live performances. Whose screwing both the buying public and the artists? The labels.

You youtube! We decide!

[CityzenJane]

@LiberalViewer A bit - but I am as left as they come. The Dems take their lead from major media corporations just like the GOP. They MAY by some miracle get net neutrality correct, but they all LAG - at least the ones in power in understanding the net, the implications of policies they sign, the complexity... they barely use the net...

[Phyrexious]

@LiberalViewer

You actually think this is a good video? Jesus you are more biased than I thought. I'm unsubbing.

[Prohumani]

republican = cola

democrat = pepsi

THE SAME SHIT STUFF! it is just a show for the people. there is no real debate!

behind all, there a hidden agendas! an invisible empire! they run the politics

[Driux]

I still don't understand the necessary emphasis on the republicans as exemplifying fee use of information, as this talk has failed to show that there is sufficient (if any) correlation between the two.

[tecnoblix]

It becomes relative at around the 15 minute mark. Pertains to DMCA's.

[rabbitwho]

Awesome awesome awesome talk! Anything I create can be used in any way as long as it's non-commercial. Copyrights were invented to protect artists! Not silence to them!

[TheSupercool19]

combo breaker

[vanmaren962]

mehh

[1988simondoyle]

this sucks

[uwmbigb]

welcome back larry

[Chaddledee]

This video better be fucking going somewhere.

[LanteanKnight]

Freedom doesn't exist, freedom is a delusive feeling produced in our brains.

[Hetobox]

@LanteanKnight Freedom does exist. However, total freedom probably doesn't -- that would be god, wouldn't it?

[LanteanKnight]

@Hetobox

There is no such thing as freedom, everything is determined by the way our brains work. I don't want to be disrespectful to your religion, but I do not believe in a being you describe as a god.

Even if I would believe in a god, how would it be freedom?

Is a god not also bound to the rules of nature in which it lives?

[Hetobox]

@LanteanKnight It is surely determined by how our brains work, but that does not mean it doesn't exist. As I said, total freedom (freedom from every external influence) probably doesn't exist, but general freedom (freedom from some external influence, does exist).

As I understand it you have confused the dictionary definition of "freedom" with that of "total freedom".

I do not believe in god either, just as I do not believe in total freedom (which is what I meant with my initial response).

[LanteanKnight]

@Hetobox

No I didn't use some standard definition, freedom just doesn't exist. As I understand you, your thinking of freedom as in environmental freedom, the feeling that you can choose your own environment and social group.

I'm talking about freedom on its own, which doesn't exist.

Everything is predetermined in the infinite.

It's really just something our brains are making up.

This doesn't mean we shouldn't believe in freedom, for if we give up on that thought, we'll be no longer human.

[Hetobox]

@LanteanKnight What is "freedom" but a lowly word defined by its standard usage?

I believe your intention is to state that "freedom of choice" doesn't exist., am I right? "Freedom" does not mean "freedom of choice" so you can understand why I didn't interpret your post referring to choice.

However, I agree with your assumption, that there is no evidence for choice or random events that would create the possibility of some sort of "alternate" realities.

What does "freedom on its own" mean?

[LanteanKnight]

@Hetobox

Freedom on its own is the 'thing' that we call freedom, the freedomness of the word.

Let me try to explain this a little better by asking a question: what makes a pen a pen?

You could list a couple of things but you can never define the word pen. The meaning of a pen lies in its penness. That's the pen on it's own.

All the alternate realities exist at the same time in the infinite, meaning whatever you 'choose' it's already been chosen for you (not literally of course).

[Hetobox]

@LanteanKnight If you want to use a word in a way that it is not defined you should state it so.

The question "What makes a pen a pen?" is illogical. Better is "What makes an object a pen?" to which one answer would be "An instrument for writing or drawing with ink or similar fluid ..."

The point is that I could easily define the word "pen", because as with all words it was once invented (defined for the first time) by man.

[LanteanKnight]

@Hetobox

But there you are wrong, you did not define the word 'pen'.

For example: can a reed straw not be used as 'an instrument for writing or drawing with ink or similar fluid' if you fill it with ink?

That just invalidated your definition.

Nothing can be defined.

[Hetobox]

@LanteanKnight Just because you personally don't think a reed straw could be a pen doesn't invalidate the dictionary definition. You might personally have thousands of requirements that have to be fulfilled for you to consider something a "pen". But using words as you personally define them instead of how they are standardized is highly inefficient, simply because you have to explain to your audience what you mean all the time.

[LanteanKnight]

@Hetobox

Just because you personally think a pen is 'an instrument for writing or drawing with ink or similar fluid' doesn't validate your definition.

See that's the point.. everyone defines things different, because nothing can be defined.

[Hetobox]

@LanteanKnight It isn't my definition, it is the dictionary's definition. The reason we have dictionaries is to standardize language too avoid confusion (such as some people using "freedom" synonymously to "freedom of choice" while some don't).

[LanteanKnight]

@Hetobox

Dictionaries are written by man.

Of course we need standard definitions, but they're never proper because no one can the describe the thing on its own.

Also, what difference would freedom be from freedom of choice?

Everything we do is by choice (or at least we feel it that way).

[Hetobox]

@LanteanKnight What we define are not the physical objects themselves, but the series of letters that are meant to reference them. However, language is limited in the sense that describing an object completely is practically impossible.

The difference between the word "freedom" and the phrase "freedom of choice" would be that the word "freedom" describes much more than "freedom of choice", and if used interchangeably it can -- and did, in the case of this discussion -- cause misunderstandings.

[LanteanKnight]

@Hetobox

The human mind is limited, that's why we can't define objects.

You can say all these pretty words, like 'freedom describes much more than freedom of choice' but how does it?

What's the difference?

[Hetobox]

@LanteanKnight As I said, it is not the objects we define in the first place, it is the words. Objects require no definition, but the words that we create by combining letters do if they are to have meaning (defining a word is giving it (a) meaning).

To explain how the word "freedom" does not equal the phrase "freedom of choice" I would need to use the definitions of the words (i.e. choice, freedom and of). Since you stubbornly do not acknowledge definitions, I can not explain it to you.