In class we’ve been talking a lot about mash-ups and remixes, and we watched the “Everything is a Remix” part about movies. I watched the part about songs earlier today, as well as some other remixes and mash-ups on youtube.
Some favorites of mine:
Bonjour, Girl! (Not necessarily a mash-up, but it’s a really funny re-dubbing of a scene from Beauty and the Beast)
We also talked about whether or not things that have been mashed up or remixed with each other are really creative or even legal.
I personally think that if you mash something up but are changing it fundamentally, then it is completely fine. Like the examples I mentioned above, the video clips retain the same form they were created in, but the audio is different, which changes the entire feel of the piece. I think somewhere where this line between creativity and legality becomes blurry is in music. In the Everything is a Remix Part 1: The Song Remains the Same music is discussed, specifically the music of Led Zeppelin. Many of the beginnings and endings of their songs were copied from original music done by other artists. I’m not really sure how I feel about this. I think that if the music is copied and nothing else is done to it, like no additional audio is recorded over it and no other sounds are added, then it is pretty much stealing. In another section of this video, the narrator discusses how one of Led Zeppelin’s songs, “When the Levy Breaks” gets sampled and remixed by artists like The Beastie Boys, Enigma, Dr. Dre, and Eminem. I think in these cases, because fundamental changes have been made to the original beat, and one would not confuse the original for this new remix, it is perfectly legal and a good example of creativity.
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