Educational Blog...
I've been writing like, a million blogs for my grad courses so I thought I'd share one with you. This is a blog based on a reading that I did by Lawrence Lessig - he writes a book entited "Free Culture," and I mainly wrote about his one chapter entitled "Creators." In this chapter, he informs us that all the characters that are supposedly designed by Walt Disney are actually "borrowed" from previous writers but because copyright laws only cover you for about 20-30 years, Disney was able to use these stories without having to pay any royalties....
Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think about these kinds of topics...here it is:
How original is original thought?
When reading Lessig’s chapter entitled “Creators,” I found it quite enlightening and it sparked the question on my mind: How original is original thought? We learn from our environment and the people and things in our world. Our thoughts and ideas are limited by our experiences so how then can you put monetary value on original thought?
Can you think of a colour that doesn’t already exist? It’s probably really difficult. If you try to think of the most extraordinary, amazing and imaginative idea you can think of, none of it will be original. It will, instead, be a creative amalgamation of elements that already exists. For example, think of a description of Heaven, what do you immediately come up with in your mind? Do you see clouds? Do you see a bright light? Do you see pearly white gates or hear harps playing in the background? Imagination is not the ability to create, but the ability to mix and match creatively. There can never be pure fantasy, only rearranged reality.
The problem today is: People are trying to put ownership on the wide range of available ideas that are not really original and should be free for public use. The whole dispute between RIM and NTP over a “wireless e-mail system” has caused much uproar in the technological industry. After settling for a ridiculous 450 million dollars, they still cannot agree on who owns the right to produce and sell such a system.
It is not just within the technological industry that these disputes occur. Even in music, which is supposed to be shared with all, there are disputes about who owns certain chords or tunes. Artists constantly talk about the different influences in their musical careers and of course, there are bound to be similarities. Yet, there are quarrels between artists about who came up with the combination of tabs first. (Minor Tangent: if you listen to Coldplay’s “The Scientist” and Sum 41’s “Pieces,” you’ll find that the intros are quite similar)
Throughout history, there has always been a “borrowing” and “sharing” of ideas and it has always been okay. We live in a free culture but it is becoming much less so with the emergence of patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Lawrence Lessig is right when he says: “We live in a world that celebrates “property” “(28). I mean, if Paris Hilton can coin the term “That’s Hot” and Donald Trump can patent the term “You’re Fired!” what is going to happen next?
Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think about these kinds of topics...here it is:
How original is original thought?
When reading Lessig’s chapter entitled “Creators,” I found it quite enlightening and it sparked the question on my mind: How original is original thought? We learn from our environment and the people and things in our world. Our thoughts and ideas are limited by our experiences so how then can you put monetary value on original thought?
Can you think of a colour that doesn’t already exist? It’s probably really difficult. If you try to think of the most extraordinary, amazing and imaginative idea you can think of, none of it will be original. It will, instead, be a creative amalgamation of elements that already exists. For example, think of a description of Heaven, what do you immediately come up with in your mind? Do you see clouds? Do you see a bright light? Do you see pearly white gates or hear harps playing in the background? Imagination is not the ability to create, but the ability to mix and match creatively. There can never be pure fantasy, only rearranged reality.
The problem today is: People are trying to put ownership on the wide range of available ideas that are not really original and should be free for public use. The whole dispute between RIM and NTP over a “wireless e-mail system” has caused much uproar in the technological industry. After settling for a ridiculous 450 million dollars, they still cannot agree on who owns the right to produce and sell such a system.
It is not just within the technological industry that these disputes occur. Even in music, which is supposed to be shared with all, there are disputes about who owns certain chords or tunes. Artists constantly talk about the different influences in their musical careers and of course, there are bound to be similarities. Yet, there are quarrels between artists about who came up with the combination of tabs first. (Minor Tangent: if you listen to Coldplay’s “The Scientist” and Sum 41’s “Pieces,” you’ll find that the intros are quite similar)
Throughout history, there has always been a “borrowing” and “sharing” of ideas and it has always been okay. We live in a free culture but it is becoming much less so with the emergence of patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Lawrence Lessig is right when he says: “We live in a world that celebrates “property” “(28). I mean, if Paris Hilton can coin the term “That’s Hot” and Donald Trump can patent the term “You’re Fired!” what is going to happen next?
posted by Mandy Lam at
1:47 AM
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