Borrowing from the Past
Do Copyright laws matter?
The evolution of The Winstons’ groundbreaking “Amen break,” as discussed in the youtube video, is an ideal example of how at this point in time, very few innovations are actually “new.” Innovations are often built off of other ideas, making it hard and nearly impossible to develop something original. This lack of original material raises the question – do copyright laws make a difference? By studying the adaptations of the Amen break, one can see that, had The Winstons copyrighted this drum loop, the musical adaptations of the future could have drastically changed. However, it is likely that another artist could have developed a similar drum loop. As stated in the video, “Culture is impossible without a rich public domain” (17:38). Copyright laws therefore do not prevent something from entering the public domain, which will then find its way into the culture of a society.
Building off of History
While copyright laws do promote more originality among individual works, people will always find their inspiration from somewhere. Part of what makes our society so liberal is freedom of speech– speech which can evolve from someone else’s words. The words of Stanford Law Professor and Copyright Reform Advocate Lawrence Lessig effectively summarize this idea: “A society free to borrow and build from the past is culturally richer than a controlled one” (15:27). It is therefore crucial to allow individuals to observe and take note of the ideas of others. These observations will allow people to borrow from and build off of an original idea, adapting it into something different. Everything in the present is built off of the past; anything can potentially inspire a new idea.
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