The Ecstasy of Influence
In Jonathan Lethem's "The Ecstasy of Influence", he expresses the use of plagiarism vs. the use of influence. What's the difference between plagiarism and influence? Isn't influence in some way plagiarism? Lethem concludes that, "Art is sourced. Apprentices graze in the field of culture. Digital sampling is an art method like any other, neutral in itself." Art comes from other places and sources; influence. Half the famous pieces of art we see today wouldn't exist if the artists didn't use plagiarism of some form. Thomas Jefferson believes copyright to be a necessary evil; everyone has their own views on it.
With all these wars over copyright infringement, we all lose. While the corporations are busy fighting the artists and the artists are consumed in fighting back, nothing new is being created or, in this case, recreated; no one gets to experience new art and that is the biggest shame of all. The public's imaginations are no longer being fed new ideas and, thus, we all just lose interest in art. As if art isn't fading enough...
With all these wars over copyright infringement, we all lose. While the corporations are busy fighting the artists and the artists are consumed in fighting back, nothing new is being created or, in this case, recreated; no one gets to experience new art and that is the biggest shame of all. The public's imaginations are no longer being fed new ideas and, thus, we all just lose interest in art. As if art isn't fading enough...
I agree with everyting you say, fights over copyright infringement take away time from artists and nothing good comes from it. We are not experiencing new art and the peoples imaginations are ruined...it makes me sad :(
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that with corporations and artists fighting each other, nothing new can be created. It distracts them from what they should really be doing and that is to think of new things that can possibly help others. People are consumed by their emotions and that they can not let anyone else be in charge or take credit if they do not truly deserve it.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that influence is in some way plagiarism. Influence can just be people expressing their thoughts or opinions and do not care about what happens to those thoughts or opinions. They are just putting their "two cents" in to help the writer improve. It does not seem to be plagiarism because you can not copyright what someone says without it being on paper or known to a massive audience.
I agree with you that influence is in some way plagiarism. Writers and artists usually look to a outside source for some type of influence. They look to other people's work to help get a boost and take whatever they saw in those pieces of work and transform it into a new and original piece of work.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that people are just too caught up in fighting over copyright infringement. These wars take away from the new ideas and new art that can created. The time spent doing all this fighting could instead be used to advance our world in art by either creating or recreating new ideas. A artist should be pleased when some other artist uses their work as inspiration. It basically means your work inspired someone else to want to create a new piece of work and that your work left a mark on that person.