DVD Review: RIP! A Remix Manifesto - Page 3

For a more "pirate-friendly" version, you can also download the movie from the film's website, using their pay-what-you-like service. The film is offered in several different formats, so your brand of choice should be well represented.

Bonus Materials

The main bonus item is a talk - billed as the final one - given by Stanford law professor, author, Creative Commons instigator and all-around "copyleft" defender Larry Lessig. This particular talk focuses on the history of copyright in the U.S., how we have come to our current crossroads in the digital age, and a possible scenario for trying to balance the power. His interviews provide much of the legal meat for the arguments within the film, and are expounded on here. Lessig is an engaging and passionate speaker on this subject, and the talk is both entertaining and informative, and provides perhaps the most detailed defense of why copyright reform is needed.

Most of the remaining features on the disc center around Girl Talk, the most interesting of which is a rotoscope animation of some of his performance footage from the film. There are a couple of video mashups included as well, but to be honest they're some of the weaker examples that could have been included (certainly in light of the many more popular ones around).

Perhaps just as important as the content is the added "bonus" that the disc itself is manufactured without DRM (meaning it has no copying locks on it), as well as the fact that all the content itself uses a Creative Commons license that encourages sharing and remixing for noncommercial purposes. Always nice to see someone practicing what they preach.

Conclusion

Rip! is a clearly presented argument for reform both with our current legal mess of copyright litigation, as well as the need for us to change direction for the sake of our future artistic culture. The fact that the focus here is on entertainment hopefully will not distract from the much larger point that our whole culture - from science and health down to children's stories and birthday songs - are being legally withheld from the public's best interest and use. It's an eye-opening and frustrating look at the monster that we have created.

Article Author: David R Perry

Lost somewhere in the rolling hills of Tennessee, David R Perry can occasionally be found doing dark, unspeakable things to words. Printed words, spoken words, electronically mangled words... really any kind but twittered words.

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