Unless you have been under a rock or a remote island avoiding the last few months of arctic weather, you have heard that Robin Thicke and Pharrell owes Marvin Gaye's family a huge sum of money for copyright infringement. Basically, Marvin Gaye's family accused Thicke and Pharrell of copying the bass line of Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" and using it in their song "Blurred Lines."
After the verdict, there has been a lot of debate on whether the jury got the verdict right or wrong. However, this made me think of a four-part video series produced by Kirby Fergusoncalled "Everything is a Remix." In the series, Ferguson looked at the concept, history and cultural significance of sampling and collaborative creation.
In the first episode of the series, Ferguson examined Led Zeppelin and their copyright issues, which reminded me of the "Blurred Lines" lawsuit. Kirby Ferguson also discussed the work of Bob Dylan in a TED talk too.
In the other videos, Ferguson looked at the same issues in film and technology including whether or not Steve Jobs stole the idea of the iPhone.
Watch the videos for yourself and let us know what you think.
Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
