RIP: a remix manifesto

Brett Gaylor's ambitious documentary, RIP: A Remix Manifesto, is an eye-opening, insightful, and amusing look at one of the pressing issues of the Internet Age: how corporate culture and copyright laws are putting a censoring headlock on freedom of expression, knowledge, and creativity.

The film's central protagonist is Girl Talk (Gregg Gillis), a mash-up music master at creating “sample” songs: songs made up by snippets or “samples” of pre-existing songs.

In an illuminating sequence Gaylor shows how metamorphosing a previous idea, evolved over the years and into Girl Talk's show.

“The Staple singers had a song called 'The Last Time' and The (Rolling) Stones basically riffed on that to create their 'The Last Time'.” he says. “Andrew Oldham then did the instrumental of 'The Last Time' which is basically the refrain that you're familiar with from The Verve and that became 'Bittersweet Symphony' and then Girl Talk takes it one more step and adds the Ying Yang Twins.”

In a day and age where it's common understanding that pretty much nothing is new, that everything borrows from something and has done so for centuries, Gaylor questions why it's illegal to create something new out of scraps of things from the past. According to copyright laws, art itself can be illegal.

Gaylor explores the right to “fair use” or “fair dealing”, a legal defence that allows an artist to “borrow” from another to make a point. Should Intellectual property be protected or shared.
He believes the past should be fair game.

And he doesn't limit his argument to the music industry. Copyright culture in general. The Corporate Copyrighting of plants, animals, insects, and diseases and the very real threat that poses to society.

Gaylor started a web site, posted his rushes and invited users to remix them any way they pleased. Some of the footage made it into the film such as the one segment 16 students got together and altered into an animation piece.
Check out his film web site

RIP opens this weekend at The Ridge Theatre (3131 Arbutus at West 15th)
Screening Times: 4pm, 7pm, 9pm daily

Director Brett Gaylor will be in attendance for the 7pm and 9pm screenings March, 20th

moot or hooey?
Gaylor doesn't have the rights to any of the music in his film