The primary focus of Remix is collateral damage. Lawrence Lessig argues that current copyright laws restrict amateur artists, stifle creativity, and place unnecessary burdens on website hosts and business owners. Additionally, he provides compelling evidence that copyright laws indirectly harm copyright holders by giving them too much power, and therefore too much responsibility. Copyright laws need to be reformed in ways that encourage amateurism, thereby creating new forms of cultural expression. Under the current copyright system, there is no distinction between professional and amateur content, nor between commercial and noncommercial use. Lessig argues that the law needs to be updated to reflect these differences. Treating amateur and professional artists equally under the law unnecessarily constrains creative innovation and places undue liability on amateur artists. Our society should want to encourage amateurism rather than deter it, and that desire ought to be reflected by our laws.
www.reddit.com is a social media website. The front page of the site displays a seemingly random mix of different types of content, including pictures, videos, cartoons, memes, etc. Users can also select the specific type of content they want to view via special categories, or “subreddits.” A large portion of the content is user-generated, but the combination of original and non-original content depends on the subreddit. Posts in some subreddits, such as r/worldnews and r/politics for example, are usually either self-posts, where users express their opinions regarding anything related to foreign news or domestic politics respectively, or links to news articles and editorials. Other subreddits contain almost exclusively user-generated material.
Copyright laws are largely unenforced on reddit. Moderators only remove content from the site when it violates their codes of conduct or if the owners claim copyright infringement, but it is impossible for the moderators to sift through millions of pieces of content individually to see if any of them violate copyright laws. One way the owners of reddit avoid legal liability is by making users responsible for ensuring that the content they upload is legal. The reddit user agreement states: “You are responsible for ensuring that any graphics, text, photographs, images, video, audio, or other material you provide or post on the website, including without limitation in bulletin boards, forums, personal ads, chats or elsewhere, does not violate the copyright, trademark, trade secret or any other personal or proprietary rights of any third party or is provided or posted with the permission of the owner(s) of such rights.” The owners of reddit are also protected by the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act, which was passed in 1996. In essence, the DMCA made it so website owners are not liable when users submit copyrighted material as long as they remove the content when the copyright holder asks them to.
One of the reforms that Lessig suggests is to deregulate amateur creativity. He draws an important line between professional and amateur use. He argues that remixing amateur content for non-professional use should not be subject to copyright law. However, when content is remixed for professional use, the creators of the content should be compensated for their work. Legalizing amateur remixing would be good for amateur artists because it would increase creativity and remove the burden of law from amateur artists. Lessig argues that Read/Write culture nurtures creativity by all individuals to influence their culture. Allowing all the participants to express their creativity will result in a richer, more inclusive culture. Deregulating amateur creativity is good for copyright owners as well. One of the primary reasons copyright holders are so concerned about enforcing copyright laws is to protect their reputation. Under current copyright laws, the copyright holders’ reputations can be damaged if their content is used in controversial ways because it can be seen as an endorsement of that particular uses. Lessig argues that the solution is to eliminate the copyright holders’ power to enforce copyright laws regarding amateur use of their content, thus freeing them from all responsibility when their material is used inappropriately. When backlashes occur over controversial use of their content, they can truthfully say that they have no control over the ways amateurs use their content.
I think deregulating amateur creativity would not have an enormous impact on the type of content submitted on reddit because users frequently remix both professional and amateur content anyway. However, I think that deregulating amateur creativity would increase creativity because it would bring more creative talent to the table. Eliminating the potential legal liability faced by amateur artists would remove the fear of prosecution, and would probably increase the number of amateur remixers participating on the site. Content creators benefit because they can share their work without being legally responsible. Users benefit because they get to enjoy new content. Copyright holders benefit because they can rest assured that their reputation will remain intact. Everybody wins.
Another copyright reform that Lessig suggests is to decriminalize the copy. He argues that instead of focusing on regulating copies of content alone, copyright laws should regulate the ways a copy can be used. The United States’ copyright laws did just that for most of its history. Until 1909, copyright law simply regulated how content could be used for commercial purposes, including publishing, republishing, and vending. In 1909, the law was altered to include copyrights for copies, even if the copy was not intended to be used commercially. Lessig argues that today’s copyright law places an unnecessary burden on businesses; if every use of digital culture produces a copy, then any business that uses digital culture is potentially liable. This is an unnecessary waste of both time and money. Lessig suggests that copyright law should only come into play when copyrighted content is being used commercially, or in ways that challenge the copyright holder. For example, copyright law would apply in cases where copyrighted material is distributed to the public because such distribution can diminish the copyright owners profits. By contrast, noncommercial use, or use that does not affect the copyright holder, should be left alone.
There would be several benefits to reddit if this reform were to be implemented. One, owners and moderators would no longer bear the burden of deleting copyrighted material as long as the content does not challenge the copyright holders ability to make money. Redditors usually do not profit off of the links they post. Instead, users receive recognition via karma, which has no value in the real world. As long as the content posted on reddit is intended for noncommercial use, it would be legal to host such content. Another benefit is that this reform would likely foster creativity by attracting more amateur artists. Artists would be more willing to post their remixed content if they knew it was completely legal. It would also benefit the artists themselves. Redditors are usually pretty good about posting links directly to the content creators. The increased traffic on the content creators’ websites generates profits via advertising dollars. This would provide an incentive for artists to keep creating, and users would have more content to enjoy.
It is clear that the current system of copyright regulation is not working and needs an update. Lessig argues that promoting a “remix culture” via copyright reform would provide significant social benefits. Reforming copyright laws would be beneficial to the users, content creators, moderators, and owners of social media sites like reddit. Reform would also benefit copyright holders by eliminating their need to make sure their content is not used in inappropriate ways. I believe that our culture is missing out on a lot of untapped creative potential. Would-be artists are often discouraged from producing their unique forms of cultural expression. Encouraging contribution from all members of a society will make that society richer and more inclusive. “Amateurism, to (John Sousa), was a virtue- not because it produced great music, but because it produced a musical culture: a love for, and an appreciation of, the music he re-created, a respect for the music he played, and hence a connection to a democratic culture.”
