One of my favorites of 2009 - I've seen it a number of times and never get tired of it. Just re-watched the first 20 mins again here while using in-air wifi. A fitting way to celebrate technology & entertainment.

I loved the film very much.
However, I must say that in the electronic music circles, mainly in Europe, the remix/mashup culture has been alive and well for years, at least since the early 90s when I first started listening to it as a very young boy. You'd hear remixes of various tracks all the time. Quite often, the original artist would play a remixed version by somebody else of his own work. In addition, they would release their original work on a single in the same CD or mp3 set along with the remixes.
The patent laws and copyright laws here in the States are just bull. They are not to protect the people but the 6 main corporations that "own" media.
Well, with the boost in technology advances, these corporations will become obsolete. They are just like a dying man fighting his last battle. Soon they'll crumble.
But I hope the artists themselves take charge of their work. I want to see more do what Radiohead did. Electronic music DJs have their own labels, most of the time. Their main income is from playing live shows, which in turn are great advertising for their records.
I have personally talked to some DJs and producers that don't even bother selling CDs/mp3s. They give it away and through that promote their next gig. And it works. It's a great model.
Oh, and feel free to remix my comment. :)

This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Some cannot understand this world-wide cultural movement, and in turn have little understanding of our history. It is our job to learn from and build upon the efforts of the past. Sampling is simply another form of creation. Every night club in the world has a DJ playing music that they did not create. Artists like girl talk go a step beyond and create something entirely new. Traditionally people fear what they do not understand and cannot control. The dieing record industry is undoubtedly afraid of losing money. If they do not produce a valuable product then they have no room to exist in a capitalist economy. This film is not just about who owns the music or even how it is created. It is about how it is experienced. Anyone who has seen girl talk live surely understands this simple concept.

The film is visually exciting and pleasruable to watch, which I admit with some apprehension being that, metacritically, the film is advocating 'remixing' while presenting that argument via remix of image and music. This is one sided in and of itself. But, the film makes no disguises beyond this; it is evident where the opinions of the documenter lay - to the "copy-left." There are few concessions made to the other points of view. Any challenges are deemed as corporate, greedy, ignorant, inartistic, conservative, un-intellectual (no irony intended), and inherently detrimental to the progress of society. This is absurd, but when one makes a film they have the freedom to skew facts and influence, and it is the choice of the viewer to listen or to not listen. But, I wonder what the creator would say to my pirating his film and selling it on a street corner? power to the people and power to thieves?

I mostly agree with the film-maker, insofar as copyright laws are too restrictive, and the awards being given to the RIAA and similar groups are excessive. But I cannot agree that copyright should be abolished altogether, which he sort of suggests, although he doesn't say so directly. Maybe, for example, it could be pared back from 95 yrs for corporate/lifetime plus 70 for individuals, to 30 yrs corporate/lifetime plus 20, and the penalties could be SUBSTANTIALLY reduced.I also wish he had spent more time discussing the non-music related aspects of the current copyright legal climate-- here the discussion of pharmaceutical and other copyrights seems like it was just an afterthought, hastily added to bolster the rest of his argument and make it seem more relevant. Having said all that, I don't want people to think I am knocking this film; these are minor quibbles, and I recommend it highly.sincerely, Hugo, copyright 2009(:^))