Open Source Cinema - An Open Source Documentary Film about Copyright

People had been appropriating the work of others to create new art long before the word mashup founds its way into the pop-culture lexicon. From the dadaists, william s. burroughs cut-up experiments, to pop art to hip-hop, collage was the the dominant art form of the 20th century.

For some, this appropriation has been central to the political ideals behind their work - pointing out the diffciculty in creating art in a world where our culture is increasingly owned by corporations. For many of these artists, copyright infirngment became a self defence mechanism.

Listening to pop music isn't a matter of choice.
Asked for or not, we're bombarded by it. In its
most insidious state, filtered to an incessant
bass-line, it seeps through apartment walls and
out of the heads of walk people. Although people
in general are making more noise than ever before,
fewer people are making more of the total noise;
specifically, in music, those with megawatt
PA's, triple platinum sales, and heavy rotation.
Difficult to ignore, pointlessly redundant to
imitate, how does one not become a passive
recipient?" - John Oswald

The most notorious of these culture jammers is Negativland - the collage artists infamous for being sued by U2, tricking the Bay Area media into believing their records were responsible for an axe murder, and lambasting the record industry in their 2005 record "No Business".

Activists like Negativland and John Oswald have been canaries in the coalmine for today's digital reality - everyone is a copyright criminal today. When all of our culture exchanges happen on line, and every activity online is a copy, every cultural transaction is regulated by a corporation. This has chilling effects on speech, exchange, and creation.

VIDEO: Roots of Rebellion