Remixing Concepts Of Copyright
The recent decision by the Irish High Court – stating that ISPs cannot be forced to identify and disconnect those accused of illegal music sharing activities – brought the issue of music rights and copyright back into focus. But the very identification of what is infringing material can be a thorny matter in itself…
Going Pogo With Copyrighted Material
Pogo has gained a sort of cult stardom precisely by using other people’s copyrighted material. His original slant was creating music videos out of mainstream movies, which obviously caused a few issues on the legal front.
However, the skill, style and good humour with which he creates his remixes has allowed him to actually create a niche for himself – he now gets requests from film-makers and production houses to Pogo-ify their movies. Looking at the video he did for ‘UP’, it’s easy to see why…
It’s clear that a lot of work and ingenuity went into producing this video (and the others Pogo has produced), and that a new and worthwhile artwork has indeed been created, which moves beyond the piracy argument… and into a sort of visual sample-clearing arena. It’s good to see major organs such as Disney embracing this sort of creativity and putting it to good use, rather than clamouring for the pirate to walk the plank…
Well, to some extent at least. Pogo has been working for Disney for the past year, and it’s only now that his remixes have been allowed into the wild:
After a year producing professionally for Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios, my contract has finally come to an end. The gag order is released, and my classic Disney mixes are allowed back online.
I’d like to apologize to everyone for the secrecy that has so far been surrounding this issue. When one of the biggest, most powerful corporations in the world zipped my mouth shut with the hand of the law, there’s little I could do to communicate without deliberately breaching my contract. Alice, Expialidocious and White Magic had to be hidden because Disney considered them illegal. They otherwise would have engaged me as an ongoing infringer, an act that would understandably exceed the legal boundaries of any corporation.
Musical Garden
Although Pogo still focuses primarily on movies and TV series remixes, his recent video ‘Gardyn’ is actually created from footage shot of his mother and her garden – which of course totally bypasses any potential legal difficulties from the copyright crew.