Remixes and mashups

We’ve been talking about copyright and intellectual property issues in class this week, and as usual I am fascinated by how much anxiety it raises in people. I always hope to quell fears, and invite people to see how much creative room and agency, fair use principles and other elements of our legal system grant people. But what usually happens, instead, is that people give voice to many fears and anxieties around appropriate handling of media materials.

I think it’s important to voice our fears - but I really want to encourage people to explore and experiment, too!

If anyone out there has ideas of how to do this better, I’d really appreciate hearing from you. And in the meantime, here’s a particularly striking mash-up that pairs images from HBO’s Game of Thrones with the credit music from the tv sitcom Friends. It’s a truly jarring juxtaposition, for those who know both shows, and thus makes for a rich example of the power of remixes and mashups.

(Hat tip to Joho, which got it from reddit)