Lessig Introduction

After reading the Introduction in Remix: Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid economy, even though I understand the importance of protecting intellectual property, I still think copyright laws are a little bit too strict and hidebound. In the very beginning, the author gives an example of a mother posted a video about her child. It’s only a very short video clip with an innocent child dancing with the music playing in the background. I don’t understand why the Universal insisted on removing the unauthorized performance of Prince’s music. Like the author demonstrated in the article that no one will listen to a twenty-nine-second sound of music. Despite the protection to the copyright, it’s too much. In order to deal with this issue, adding the background music in the description box to declare copyright would be an easy and better way to solve the problem. Having a strict copyright law might impede the cultural dissemination and discourage people to learn and create. The example above actually helps the work to be known by more people. In a way like uploading the video including the background music is a good way to spread the art work. It brings benefits to both the artists and the audiences in general, especially in this era of rapid information development. If the copyright law is too harsh, not many people would love to share their favorite music, movie or other works. There needs to be a moderate adjustment to the copyright laws so that people would make good use of the work while respecting the intellectual property.