As the power of the Internet increases, and innovative approaches to sharing data start paying off, old fashioned businesses are being forced to rethink their approach to the way they sell artistic commodities like music and film. Copyright - guaranteed in the American constitution, has become the biggest battleground in this exploding new world, where mash-ups, remixes and YouTube continue to push the rules.
In Good Copy Bad Copy, Danish directors Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen and Henrik Moltke interview figures from both sides of the debate creating an inspirational examination of art, culture, copyright and the creative process.
It’s easy to think of this divisive issue in terms of how it effects big record labels and film studios in the United States, but this electronic frontier is world wide - from the huge Nigerian film industry, held together by second hand equipment and verve, to the back rooms of Brazil, where the tecno brega movement was born, this energetic documentary charts creative collaborations across the world, showing how freedom of information can sometimes create artistic bonds between strangers.
Featuring interviews with Gorillaz producer Danger Mouse (famous for his landmark mash-up album “The Grey Album”), DJ Girl Talk, Siva Vaidhyanathan, Lawrence Lessig (Creative Commons), Dr Lawrence Ferrara (Chair of Music at NYU), Dan Glickman (head of the MPAA) and others, Good Copy Bad Copy stands as both a basic lesson in the issues, terms and cases behind copyright law, and a tongue-in-cheek challenge to the status quo. If there’s one film to see about this issue, it’s this one.
LEARN MORE:
Keeping with the philosophy of their doc, the filmmakers have made Good Copy Bad Copy available in its complete form for streaming here. Show your appreciation to them directly by donating:
You can also visit the Good Copy Bad Copy site.
Creative Commons is an organization that has created a variety of innovative copyright licences for artists.
You can learn more about "The Grey Album" at Banned Music.
Producer Danger Mouse also has his own site.
