Everything is a Remix by Kirby Ferguson among other things, has made me feel so much better about myself. I personally always felt that my copying was a crutch. Whether it be music or drawing ect. Its good to finally be reassured that copying has been the process of creativity and evolution since the beginning of time. However, copying is supposed to serve to us as models so we can create something better. Movies and music have been remixed over the years in many ways that resemble one another, more identically than others. The sad part that Ferguson mentions is all the copyright laws and lawsuits from people who don’t want others copying their intellectual property. This unfortunately delays the influx of new creations and ideas to take place in society and improve as a people; the way we have done for centuries through technology and other forms. Not enough people realize the importance of copying work and remixing. Instead, people are more interested and greed and how they can make money which hinders the ability to make progress.

Usually it is fairly obvious when something is remixed from the original because they have many similarities if not identical. I think remixers share the same tastes of the original which is why something is reused or remixed.

Steve Jobs said that Pablo Picasso had a quote, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Jobs had said himself that he never felt remorse from stealing good ideas.

If he stole and made so much progress, I think it would be alright if we were allowed to copy. A society that chokes creativity slowly chokes itself and once it dies all its creativity that has been withheld will be released in a ooze of brilliance; just as free as it used to flow in the past.

Here is an example of the original “Wilhelm scream” that has been remixed into many films including Star Wars.

and here is the same scream remixed into many other movies.