Assignment 10B: Kirby Ferguson on the Idea of Remix

Good artists copy and great artists steal. Even visionaries like Steve Jobs agree to the concept and idea behind this phrases. However, the controversy begins when these great artists get stolen from. Steve Jobs in 2010 publicly announced a war on Android because he believed that the company had stolen the technology from Apple.

Especially regarding the music industry, we all realize that many products are simply "remixes" of others, incorporating lines of code, lines of lyrics, or components of other products. On one side of the coin, this is clearly copying or stealing the innovation of another. On the other side of the coin, improvements are necessary for advancement. If the human race had not improved upon the original invention of the chair, then we would have constant back pains or even stunted growth.

As such, the patent system should be revised so that the infringement conditions be clearly defined and more reasonably measured. This way, innovation in the form of remixes will not be treated as infringement and thus be welcomed as a source of new inventions.